


Binary

by lforevermore



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Detectives, Copious amounts of music references, Humor, I wrote this when I was 15, Kind of Character death but not really, Language, Multi, Mystery, Violence, references to gang activity
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-11-17
Updated: 2015-11-17
Packaged: 2018-05-02 03:20:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 16
Words: 65,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5231981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lforevermore/pseuds/lforevermore
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Detective AU. It all started with a motorcycle accident, a missing blond, and a stolen computer disc. Now Riku's tracking his so-not-boyfriend and a hotheaded blond down with the help of his rock-obsessed, pyromaniac, partner-in-fighting-crime and his secretary who still hasn't figured out that she works for him, not the other way around. Not to mention the gang that's trying to kill them. And poor Riku's mop still isn't magical. </p><p>--------</p><p>Originally posted on FF.net circa 2009. Follow at inmywildernesswriting.tumblr.com</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Kickstart My Heart

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this when I was 15. Forgive any weirdnesses.

By six-thirty Monday morning, Riku had officially declared it a Bad Day.

He began to get the hint when he walked in his tiny, seventies-yellow-and-green kitchen Monday morning, and found that his Honey Smacks were scattered all over the fading, slightly-peeling linoleum. The guilty party was purring contentedly on the box, Riku noticed, right on top of the poor frog’s face. He glared at the cat. The cat ignored him in favor of batting around a little golden puff.

“You’re evil,” he informed the cat, whom he had fondly named Chubchub when he’d gotten the ridiculously fat thing three years prior. Chubchub hoisted his furry self up, brushing against the not-so-awake Riku’s bare legs and leaving Riku’s ruined breakfast behind as he went to go stare longingly at the robins outside the window. Riku glanced at the broom leaning nearby, willing it to spring to life and start cleaning. It didn’t, of course. Riku decided to pretend it did.

When he finally managed to stumble into the shower after staring at the coffee-maker in the kitchen for fifteen more minutes, muttering random nonsense words under his breath to make it magically start making coffee, he discovered with a sudden start that there was absolutely no hot water. It didn’t help that he accidentally washed his hair with shaving cream, thus having to stay under the water for roughly thirty seconds longer and therefore _freeze his ass off_ , thank you very much. His cell phone, which he apparently had left in the bathroom the night before – and he wanted to know _why_ it was in there, because he certainly hadn’t been drunk… if he remembered correctly – began blasting a random Savage Garden song when he had finally managed to get clean enough to turn the water off.

Unfortunately for Riku, it was a Bad Day.

He’d never actually bothered to re-screw the towel rack into the wall when he’d moved in, instead holding it up with duct tape and pretending that he couldn’t see the tape. So far, it had held, needing to be replaced only once every couple of months. Apparently, he’d forgotten to replace it, because the tape gave way as soon as he attempted to grab a towel, throwing him off balance and sending him crashing to the floor, taking the towel rack, the towel, the shower curtain, and the shower rod with him. The rod caught the towel on which his cell phone had been resting on the way down, conveniently causing it to bounce off of his head.

“What?” he snapped once he’d finally managed to get it open with his one free hand.

“Good morning to you too, sunshine. You’re late,” came the disapproving voice of his secretary, Kairi.

Riku flipped the phone over, looking at the clock. “…I’m not late. It’s only seven.”

“Daylight Savings Time, detective. It’s eight. You’re late.” He could hear her tapping something into a keyboard. “Oh, hey, that rhymed.”

“Congratulations, you passed first grade,” Riku scowled. “It’s mydamn office anyway, so I’ll get there whenever the hell I get there.”

He could practically hear Kairi’s eyes rolling over the phone. “Alright, let me put it this way,” she said in that sugary sweet tone that meant that he had successfully annoyed her, thereby making his own Bad Day the Day from Hell. “You’ve got an hour before I kill Axel and snap his _Mötley Crüe CD in half.”_

_“It’s_ __my_ _ _-“_

_“Fault, yes. He’s got ‘Bitter Pill’ on repeat, and there’s only so much I can take, Riku. One hour, or I’m shutting up Vince Neil for good.”_

_He opened his mouth to reply with something that was probably not very nice, shifting his trapped legs and subsequently discovering that he could whack himself upside the head with the shower rod._

_“See you soon, sunshine!” Kairi said, and promptly hung up before Riku could remind her that_ __she_ _ _worked for_ __him_ _ _._

_It took ten minutes to free himself from the shower curtain, and by the time he’d discovered that all of his nice clothes were covered in white and tan cat fur, chosen to go with a pair of too-small jeans and his only clean t-shirt, and ignored fixing his hair so he didn’t have to go look at the mess in the bathroom, forty-five minutes of his allotted hour were up, and Axel was most likely dead. He doggedly ignored the mess in the bathroom as he passed, murmuring an “Abracadabra!” to the mop, leaning by the broom in the kitchen. Between the two of them, the mop and the broom were bound to come up with some kind of magical life force, he decided as he passed the kitchen. He waved goodbye to Chubchub, who was happily playing with another Honey Smack, his big butt firmly on the cartoon-frog’s face, and left his apartment to face the world._

_Five minutes later, he was banging his head against the door of his locked apartment, where his car keys happened to be sitting on the coffee table. Ten minutes after that, he was informed that the super was out for the morning, and couldn’t let him back in. Fifteen minutes later, he was run over by a motorcycle, and he was pretty sure that the term “Bad Day” was an understatement._

_“Oh my God, oh my God, oh my God!”_

Riku opened his eyes, blinking at the not-so-clear and kind-of-spinning world around him, briefly wondering for a moment why exactly he was staring at the sky. As the world came into focus, it hit him, much like the Harley had done not too long ago. He blinked again, touching his forehead and pulling his hand away to see blood.

“I am _so_ sorry, oh my God, oh my _God_! Please don’t be dead, man!”

Riku looked over at the kid who was standing next to him, hands buried in chocolate spikes and bright blue eyes wide as he continued his mantra of “oh my God, oh my God.” The silver-haired detective sat up slowly, winced, and then grabbed onto Spiky’s arm and stood, using the kid for support as the world spun around him again.

“Oh my God, I think I killed you...” the kid said, staring at him with wide, horrified blue eyes. “I-I’ll take you to the hospital, okay? Don’t, like, die or anything!”

“I’m fine,” Riku replied, loudly enough for the crowd that had gathered to hear. “It’s just a scratch. Foreheads bleed a lot.”

“I am _so_ sorry! You probably have, like, a concussion or something!” He burst into another round of “oh my Gods,” and Riku was pretty sure that they weren’t helping his headache any.

“Relax,” he said, glancing down at his clothes and realizing with a frown that he was covered in scratches from the pavement. “Look, kid, my apartment’s right upstairs, so we’ll-“ He stopped, remembering the Honey Smacks, the bathroom, and the locked door. “…Never mind. There’s a café over there. We’ll go in and work this out over coffee, okay?” The kid nodded, big baby blues wide and… oh shit, kind of teary. Looks like he’d be buying.

Spiky parked his bike, which wasn’t damaged. He decided that he must have looked like death warmed over, with the way that the bookworms, college students, and barista were staring at him in the little cafe. He ordered the kid a hot chocolate, just because he looked like a hot chocolate kind of guy, himself a latte, and proceeded to sit awkwardly across from the kid at a table.

“So, uh,” he started intelligently. “I’m not really injured, and your Harley’s okay, so… how about we just forget about this whole thing?”

The kid looked at him as though he’d suddenly sprouted a marshmallow from his nose. “…I ran you over with my motorcycle, man. You’re covered in blood. Jesus, I don’t even think I have my license with me!”

Riku frowned slightly into his coffee. Was this guy even old enough to drive a motorcycle? “I’m fine, really…”

Spikes looked at him with those big blue eyes, guilt and concern written all over his face. “Dude. At least let me, like, fix you up a little.”

Well, damn. He’d always been a sucker for a well-played puppy dog pout. “Okay,” he relented. “You can… buy me a band-aid. Or something.”

Spiky looked utterly, ridiculously happy at that, grinning in a way that made Riku’s insides melt just a little, but he chalked it up to the coffee. Really, so what if he was cute? He was probably still in high school, if that dorky smile and rainbow-explosion sense of fashion was any indication.

Still, wouldn’t do to call the kid “Spiky” aloud.

“Hey,” he said with what he hoped was a smile. “’m Riku.”

The kid grinned at him again –did he ever actually stop grinning?- and curled his gloved fingers around the Styrofoam cup of cheap hot chocolate. “I’m Sora.”

 

By lunch, he wasn’t quite sure if he could still classify it as a Bad Day, or if it had somehow gotten inexplicably better, despite all odds. Sora wasn’t really a kid, Riku learned while he’d been sticking band-aids on every scrape. “I’m studying at the university across town,” he said, slapping one on the cut on Riku’s forehead. “Getting my teaching degree. I wanna teach high school history. It’s dorky, I know, but I think I’ll like it.”

“A history teacher with a Harley?” Riku asked, quirking an eyebrow and trying to look as masculine as possible despite being covered in Strawberry Shortcake band-aids – the only ones that Wal-Mart had. “All my history teachers were lame. And their rooms were always freezing.”

Sora shrugged. “Yeah… That was kind of a driving factor. Not freezing the kids out and… cookies or something, I don’t know. We can learn about China with cookies.”

“Fortune cookies,” Riku agreed. “With the test answers in the middle of the cookies.”

“Ingenious!”

Riku smiled, truly this time, something he didn’t do so often with the stress of his crappy apartment and insane job. “So, what, then, you’re nineteen-ish?”

“Twenty-two.”

The shock must have shown on his face or something, because Sora laughed and said, “Yeah, I get that a lot. I get carded for even _looking_ at a bar.” He put the last band-aid on the scrape on the side of Riku’s cheek and leaned back against the back of the paint-chip bench of the park they’d stopped at, hands folding behind his head. They’d been soft when the chocolate-haired student had taken off his motorcycle gloves. “So what about you?”

Riku glanced over at him. “I’m a detective.”

The kid – _no, not a kid_ , Riku reminded himself – jolted and looked at him, blue eyes wide again in a way that Riku really only saw in wannabe-Nancy Drews.

“No way,” Sora said, making Riku think strangely of Valley Girls and skater boys. “Are you serious? You’re serious! That is _so cool!_ ” He grinned again, which was apparently a common thing for him because he did it so much, and looked at Riku with admiration written all over his features.

Heat spread across his cheeks, and Riku decided to pretend that he wasn’t blushing. “It’s not as cool as you think,” he said. “We’re… a dysfunctional family, really. My secretary bosses me around like I work for her, and my partner is my insane pyro roomie from college, so…”

“Well, that just makes it more interesting, right?” Sora was still beaming at him. “It’s probably, like, exactly like _Law and Order_ and you’re probably, like, badass and too awesome to admit it.”

Riku shook his head. “No… Think more _Will and Grace_.”

“Only with more crime and less interior decorating?” Sora laughed. “My mom loves that show.”

“So does my secretary.” The detective decided to leave out that it was his guilty pleasure, and Kairi only liked it because he had once said that he was Will, she was Grace, and Axel was probably a Jack/Karen hybrid of sorts. “She quotes it all the time, she has all the seasons on DVD-“

“Can I buy you lunch?”

Riku stopped, looking over at Sora, who was still smiling, though now a little nervously, and holding the bright pink band-aid box in one hand. The detective thought for a moment of Axel, who was undoubtedly dead by now, and of Axel’s poor _Mötley Crüe CD._

“Lunch sounds good.”

He’d make sure they played “Home Sweet Home” at the funeral, like Axel had always wanted.

 

It was closer to closing time than he had originally planned for when he finally walked into the agency on Third Street, but really, who plans to be hit by a motorcycle and then spend the day with the guy who ran you over? His scrapes still stung like a bitch, but his spirits were high, and he chalked it up to good food and Sora’s random and slightly dorky jokes. The spiky student had grabbed his hand and a Sharpie out of his back pocket, and as Riku glanced down at the numbers, written in _purple_ of all things, he got this strange sense of déjà vu. It was almost like he was back in high school.

“So _that’s_ where you were all day.”

Riku turned around to look at the door to his office, where his partner-in-fighting-crime was leaning against the doorframe with a knowing smirk in place. A moment later, after Axel had fina, the smirk was replaced by slight alarm.

“Dude, what the hell happened to you? You lose a fight or something?” he redhead asked, straightening slightly. He looked odd in office clothes, with his hedgehog-esque hair and diamond tattoos. Odd in a good way, though, much like the rest of Riku’s work life.

“Yeah,” Riku said. “You should see the motorcycle. I sure showed it who was boss.”

“You’re kidding.” Axel said. When Riku didn’t nod, he stood straight and looked as though Riku suddenly laid an egg. “Holy crap, you’re not kidding! You seriously got hit by a motorcycle?!” Riku nodded, turning to flip through the files on Kairi’s desk and pretend that he had actually been somewhat productive that day, and Axel leaned against the doorframe again, this time in pure disbelief. “And then you went on a _date_ with the guy?!”

Riku spun around again, effectively sending practically everything on the desk to the floor. “What? No! It wasn’t a date! He was just being nice.”

“Pink is _so_ your color, by the way.”

Riku’s hand flew up to the one on his forehead. “Shut up! They were the only ones-“

“He drove you to work, I saw. Did he take you out to lunch too?”

“It was probably just so I wouldn’t press charges or-“

“And is that his number on your hand?”

Riku looked down at the purple numbers, then back at Axel’s smirk. “…Christ.”

Axel nodded, bending down to start picking up Kairi’s folders and various office supplies. “At least he was cute, right? If you have to be run over by a motorcycle, might as well hope the guy driving it is cute.” A CD fell out of one of the folders and he held it up triumphantly. “Aha! Kairi,” he said mockingly to her empty chair, “your hiding places suck. So, you’re gonna call him, right?”

The detective looked back at his hand. “…I don’t know.”

“That’s a yes in Riku-speak. Man, you need to get laid. It does wonders for your stress levels.” Riku pretended not to have heard that, deciding that his friend had already had one brush with death that day. “Let’s just go ahead and close up, man. Kairi went home already and nothing’s happened today.” He gathered up a pile of stuff and dropped it haphazardly onto Kairi’s desk. Riku looked down at the rest of it on the floor.

“…Yeah, okay." He reached over and shut her computer down. "I've had a crappy day anyway."

"Aw, what? Motorcycle boy doesn't put out on the first date?"

Riku glared at the redhead. "Congratulations. You just lost stereo privileges to Kairi for a week."

He smirked as Axel shuddered visibly. Axel hated Savage Garden.


	2. Surrender

Riku’s Tuesday morning started out much like his Monday morning had. His cereal was still spread out across the kitchen floor, mostly because the broom hadn’t come alive to clean up the mess, there _still_ wasn’t any coffee, and he wound up flat on his bathroom floor, tangled in the shower curtain again before he really knew what was happening. The only real difference was the fact that he now had both arms free, thanks to a rip in the God-awful floral curtain, which made answering his cell phone much easier.

The ease of answering his cell phone from his bathroom floor did absolutely nothing for his mood, however. “Why do you people keep calling me so early in the morning?” he demanded, rubbing his free hand at his soapy eye. “And why the hell is it always when I’m in the shower?”

“It’s the image that the thought of you in the shower brings with it, baby. So did you call him?”

Riku scowled at the tile of his bathroom floor. “It’s none of your business, Axel. Are you at work already?”

“Don’t try and change the subject,” his partner replied, somewhat testily, and Riku could vaguely hear Savage Garden and – he shuddered – Kairi singing along with it somewhere in the background. “So you didn’t call him then?”

“No, Axel,” he finally acquiesced. “I didn’t call him. I just met the guy, I didn’t want to sound… I don’t know, eager or-“

“So give me his number.”

There was silence as Riku took in what Axel had said, broken only by Kairi singing along with Darren Hayes, badly, and the shower running all the hot water down the drain.

“…So, dude…“ Axel began nervously. “I didn’t mean that the way that it sounded or anything. I meant that I could do it for you. ‘Cause you’re a coward.”

“Axel.” Riku said slowly, shifting. Thankfully, the shower rod was lying beside him, and not whacking him upside the head. “I _will_ kill you. And I’ll play Britney Spears at your funeral. Don’t think that I won’t.”

He heard the redhead sigh softly, probably in relief that he hadn’t incurred the full brunt of Riku’s wrath. “And you’ll hide my body near the Playboy mansion too, because you’re a bitch like that, right? And, uh, Kairi says that you forgot to set your clocks back still, and it’s eight o’clock. And that you’re-“

“It’s _my_ goddamn office!”

Axel laughed. “Yeah, but she runs it. You just pay the rent on the building. And I swear to God, if you don’t get here soon, I’m going into a coma or something to avoid any more of this crappy music.”

He disconnected and Riku scowled at the phone before getting up. He stared at the curtain lying on the floor, decided it really wasn’t worth the effort it would take to put it back up, and went and stood, shivering, under the icy spray until he was pretty sure that he passed as clean. As he wrapped a towel around himself, he glanced down at his hand and the Sharpie that still hadn’t come all the way off, bright purple against his pale skin. Then, his not-quite-green eyes moved to his cell phone, lying innocently on the counter (how the hell did it keep getting in there, anyway?).

He walked out to go sit in front of the heater until he stopped shivering.

 

When he finally rolled into work, it was half-past ten, and he had, unfortunately, not been hit by any motorcycles as of yet. He slid his ’98 Honda Civic next to Axel’s much newer, much shinier, and much more expensive Firebird, and fought the urge to scratch just one little chip of the red paint off. Axel would kill him, he knew, and bury him in something ridiculous and probably frilled, just as revenge. Axel was a spiteful jackass like that.

The minute he opened the door, he was greeted by the not-so-amazing musical sounds of Kairi, singing along with… That was probably “Crash and Burn,” but he couldn’t be certain, because, frankly, he really didn’t care. He spotted Axel slumped in one of the cracked leather chairs that served as a waiting lounge for their clients – when they actually had any – and thought for a fleeting moment that Kairi really had come unglued and just murdered the poor bastard.

A loud snore broke through the office, right in the middle of the chorus of the song Riku didn’t care about, and Kairi shot a glare at the not-dead, possibly comatose redhead. Riku couldn’t decide if he was disappointed or not.

Mercifully, because apparently there _was_ a God, Kairi turned the stereo down to a normal level and pinned Riku with her infamous boy-do-you-owe-me-an-explanation look, complete with a caramel sweet smile and only slightly narrowed eyes.

“You know, Riku,” she said, pulling the nail file out of her desk drawer and setting to work on her nails, a sign that Riku was in trouble. Those fingers were most likely about to be used as a deadly weapon. “Most people call in when they’re going to skip work. Let me explain how it works, okay?” Riku opened his mouth, but she beat him to it. He gave up and took a seat beside Axel, who was still dead to the world, the lucky bastard. “This,” she held up her cell phone, “is a phone. You can use it to call people, see? You type in these numbers, and everyone has their own number, so if you type in mine, you can call me.” She held the phone up to her ear, holding out a hand as Riku opened his mouth to speak again. “If you call me, you can tell me that you’re going to be late. Here’s an example. ‘Kairi,’” she mimicked a lower tone. Riku assumed that she was supposed to be portraying him. “‘My dear, beautiful Kairi. I have fallen off the face of the earth, so I am calling to let you know that I won’t be coming to work. Don’t worry when Axel tells you that I _got hit by a motorcycle!_ ’”

He gave her a placating smile as she stood, her explain-bitch face morphing into her you-asshole expression in record time. The redhead stomped over to him and stood frowning down at him, hands on her hips. Before Riku could do anything to defend himself, one recently sharpened nail shot out, jabbing him right in the ugly – and extremely painful, might he add – bruise on his cheek.

“Ow!”

She huffed, crossing her arms. “Why didn’t you call me?” she demanded, and her you-asshole face took on a pouty element. “Axel called me at ten last night and told me you’d been run over by a motorcycle! Not to mention the fact that you basically disappeared for the entire day, not only just letting me sit there and worry, but leaving me alone with _that_ ,” she jabbed a thumb in Axel’s direction, “all day!”

Axel snored. It was his only defense against a similar lecture. Kairi spared him a withering glance before returning her gaze to Riku.

“Well? Explain!”

“I, um…” Riku was off to a spectacular start. “I really did get hit by a motorcycle.”

“And that robbed you of your ability to dial my number, _which_ , by the way, is on _speed-dial_ and only really takes the push of _one_ button?”

Now really, how was he supposed to explain that he ditched work to go hang out with the guy who, while he was admittedly unbelievably cute, had run him over with a motorcycle? It sounded ridiculous in his head, so there was really no telling how it was going to sound aloud, and if it sounded _too_ stupid…

Of course, he could always just throw Axel’s sleeping body at her and make a run for it.

“Well,” he said, trying to choose his words carefully as that sharp little finger drifted dangerously close to his bruise again. He pressed himself against the back of the chair, inching away from the finger. There was nowhere to run. “I… Evidently, I went on a date.”

She paused, studying at him as though deciding whether or not he was serious and whether or not she should prepare his headstone to go along with Axel’s. Then, slowly, a smile spread across her face, sending chills down Riku’s spine, and she gave a little laugh. It wasn’t quite enough to be called a chuckle, but Kairi simply _didn’t_ giggle.

“You…” She carefully poked _beside_ the bruise on his face and he sighed in relief, forgiven. “…went on a _date_.”

Suddenly, Axel jumped up, and Riku realized that the asshole hadn’t actually been snoring for the last half of their conversation, and probably hadn’t actually been asleep at all. He grabbed Kairi’s arm and swung her around, the two of them chanting at the top of their lungs in a sing-song voice, “Riku went on a date! Riku went on a date!”

Riku sighed, pretending that the heat rising on his cheeks and spreading to his ears was a result of gravity or some other undeniable force at work, and not because he was blushing. Riku did _not_ blush.

“Aw, he’s all grown up!” Kairi cooed, slightly breathless from… well, Riku thought it was supposed to be dancing. “So what’s his name, Riku?” She sat down on one side of him, and Axel reclaimed his place on the other. He was trapped. There was no choice but to surrender to them.

“Sora,” he muttered. “His name is Sora. He drives a motorcycle. He hit me with it, he bought lunch, I bought dinner, and I don’t think he knew that it was a date. Now please shut up about it and leave me alone.” Kairi and Axel just grinned. Riku then realized the mistake that he had just made, but it was too late to save himself from the torture he’d just talked himself into.

“Soraand Riku, sitting in a tree!”

He sighed. Really, he should have known better than to fall for that trick.

“K-I-S-S-I-N-G!”

“This is real mature, guys,” he said, rolling his eyes. “Aren’t you two supposed to be adults?”

“First comes _love…_ ” They grabbed at each other, batting their eyes at Riku, holding each other tightly. Riku personally thought they looked like twins who were just a little _too_ close. “Then comes _marriage_ …” Kairi’s singing transformed into a startled yelp as Axel swept her up like a bride, but, sadly, she recovered in time for the final line. “Then comes a baby from the adoption fairy!”

Riku considered invoking his license to kill.

“Alright, torture over,” Kairi said, hitting Axel lightly on the shoulder. “Put me down, you pervert.” Axel dropped her, smirking. She landed, surprised, flat on her ass on the ugly brown carpet of the office.

“Sweet thing,” Axel replied, “nothing you’ve got does anything for me. Now, _Riku_ on the other hand…”

If only his gun weren’t in his office, _all_ the way across the room. “Any part of you that touches me gets chopped off.”

Axel shrugged. “Your loss, man,” he said, winking. “I’ll have you know, I’m a _god_ in bed.”

…Screw the license to kill, he was using the gun on himself just to wipe that mental imagery out of his head, permanently.

“Funny, Axel,” Kairi piped up from where she had perched on top of her desk, legs crossed and a bottle of pink nail polish in one hand. “That’s not what I’ve heard.”

“One word, woman, and I’ll-“

“You’ll _what_ , Axel Rose Kearney?” She looked up at him, that terrifying sugary sweet smile in place. Riku shuddered slightly.

“I’ll…” Axel faltered. He huffed and scowled, plopping into the chair beside Kairi’s desk. For some reason, they had a strange collection of chairs spread out through the office, as well as a fake plant that was as tall as the ceiling. The plant was Kairi’s. “…Damn it. It’s chicks like you that made me gay, I hope you know. You scarred me for life.”

Kairi hummed, still smiling that evil smile. “And it’s chicks like you that remind me how much I like being straight, Axel.”

Luckily, Riku was saved from further suicide-inducing banter by the rustling of the blinds on the door, signifying a – gasp – client. Suddenly, Kairi was sitting in her chair, tap-tapping away at her keyboard, her wet nails not slowing her down in the least, a talent she prided herself in. Axel had somehow obtained a manila file folder and was flipping through it, as though he actually worked on a regular basis. It was then that Riku was struck with a revelation.

_They were actually capable of working._

He looked toward the door as he heard it close, where a petite blonde had stepped inside and was glancing around curiously. “Hello!” Kairi said from her desk, putting on her polite smile, which was _much_ nicer than the smile she often sent Riku’s way. She was, after all, a woman of many faces. “How can we help you?”

“I’m here about a case.” The young woman’s voice was surprisingly firm, though quiet, and she looked Kairi straight in the eyes as she spoke, returning the polite smile. She wasn’t nervous, Riku thought, but if the crease on her forehead was any indication, she was very worried about something.

“Well, you’ve come to the right place.” Axel closed the file and stood, holding a hand out to shake hers. “Axel Kearney, detective. And that lump over there is the other, less cool detective. Feel free to point and laugh at him.”

Riku stood and shook her hand as well. “Ignore him. He’s just my pet monkey. Riku Ito.”

She smiled, but it seemed strained. “Naminé Martel. I’ve got some people for you to find for me.”

Riku nodded, motioning to the door of the office that he and Axel shared. She led the way, hopefully oblivious to Axel flipping Kairi the bird as he passed her, and Kairi returning the gesture in kind. Axel closed the door behind them and leaned against it, pulling out his trusty Memo pad and a pen. In spite of his many annoyances – many, many annoyances – Axel could be trusted to take damn good notes. They often came in handy later on, Riku would admit on occasion… meaning when he was drunk out of his mind. That didn’t happen very often.

The blonde sat, smoothing out her white sundress as Riku leaned against the front of his desk. “Who are we looking for?” he asked.

Naminé sighed softly. “My brothers,” she began. “They never made it home last night, and this morning, I got a strange phone call.”

“Start from the beginning, sweetheart,” Axel said, already writing and not looking up from his notebook. “Names would be great.”

She nodded, taking a deep breath, the worry line on her forehead deepening. “Roxas and Sora Martel,” she said. Axel paused in his writing, glancing over at Riku, who caught his gaze for a moment. “Sora didn’t have class yesterday, so he went riding… He really loves that bike Rox got him for Christmas. Anyway, he called in the morning and said something had happened and he’d be late.”

Riku knew what had happened. Apparently, Naminé didn’t.

“He said he’d bring dinner. He never came home.” She paused for a moment, as though trying to collect herself and get everything straight in her head. “Roxas works at a delivery company. He left at around ten that morning, he was supposed to be in by eleven, but the company called at noon and asked where he was. I waited up for them for most of the night; I tried their cell phones…” She looked up at him, and Riku realized that her eyes were the same deep blue as Sora’s.

They were related, after all.

“About the phone call,” Axel prompted. “What time was that?”

“Around eight this morning,” Naminé said. “It was creepy. I’ve heard the voice before, I’m sure of it, but I can’t place it. She asked for Rox first, then Sora, and when I told her they weren’t home, she got angry. She said something about something being stolen, and…” Her voice broke and she closed her eyes for a moment. “…And… explained exactly what would happen to us if they didn’t get it back.”

Riku’s mouth thinned to a grim line and Axel’s face darkened. Neither wanted to imagine the rest of that conversation. After a long silence, in which Riku handed the blonde a tissue and Axel continued to jot down notes, Riku went on.

“Is there any reason why someone would be after your brothers?” he asked.

Naminé didn’t answer for a long moment. “…It was a long time ago,” she said slowly. “And I don’t know much. Sora only said that Rox got into some trouble. We moved, and nobody worried about it anymore. They wanted to protect me, so…” She shrugged. “I’m sorry, that’s all I know.”

“It’s alright,” Axel told her. “Anywhere they could be heading?”

“Leon’s. Sora’s brother lives in Springfield,” she replied. “…I’ll write down the address for you.”

Riku handed her a pen and a piece of paper. “Just Sora’s brother?”

“Technically,” she passed the paper back to him, “Sora’s my half-brother. Leon’s his older brother. They aren’t as close as Sora and Rox, but Leon wouldn’t turn him away. Oh!” She reached into the purse that she had set at her feet and pulled out a pair of photographs. “This is Roxas.”

Taking the photo she handed him, Riku looked down to see a blond with Sora’s blue eyes – once again due to the fact that they were related – scowling back at him, as though royally pissed that his picture was being taken. He passed it to Axel after studying it for a moment, taking the next one she passed.

“And this is Sora.”

Yep. That was Sora.

He was grinning at the camera, flashing a peace sign and dodging Roxas, who was trying to hide behind him. Riku passed it on to Axel without a word.

“Anything else you can tell us, Miss Martel?” Axel asked, taking the picture and sparing it a glance before jotting something down in his Memo pad. Naminé shook her head and stood, taking the piece of paper that Axel handed her. “If you think of anything else, call us,” he said, and she nodded. “And here’s a little suggestion.” The redhead patted her gently on the shoulder. “I’d recommend taking a little vacation for the time being. And investing in a gun might not be too bad of an idea.”

Naminé paled further, making her look almost ghostly. “Oh…” she murmured. “…But Rox took his gun with him…”

Axel flipped open the notebook again, scribbled something, and dropped it onto the desk. “Roxas has a gun?”

She nodded. “It slipped my mind, I guess… I’m just so used to him carrying it.”

Axel shook his head slightly. “Kids these days,” he muttered, as though he weren’t just a few years older than the apparently armed blond runaway. “Don’t worry about it. We’ll have those boys back safe and sound in no time.” He gave her a grin and Riku attempted a smile, shaking her hand before Axel showed her out.

When the door had closed behind them, Riku sat down behind his desk, spinning slowly in his desk chair, picking up the Memo pad that Axel had left behind. He flipped through it, going over the conversation again. As the seconds ticked by, his thoughts grew gloomy.

Suddenly, he stopped, a strange look crossing his face.

The door opened again and Axel strode in, his nervous habit having already kicked in, as there was a lighter in his hand and Riku could already hear the sound of it flicking on, then off, then on again. It was a remnant of when the redhead still smoked, because, though he had vowed never to pick up a cigarette again, lighters hadn’t fallen under that promise. Riku held up the pad.

“What the hell is that?” he asked, pointing to a drawing. Axel glanced at it.

“Um. A phone.” The redhead gave him a look that clearly said that it was obvious. Riku, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.

He studied the drawing again. “Axel, it looks like a…” He looked up, and was very clearly deeply disturbed. “What are you on?”

“It’s to show that the caller’s a chick, man! It’s like… a hybrid of the two. It’s creative.”

Shaking his head, Riku dropped the notebook as though it might burst into flames in his hand, and wiped the Axel-cooties off on his pants.

“Aw,” Axel cooed, sitting in the chair Naminé had recently vacated. “Someone’s depressed.”

“I am not,” Riku replied, glaring at the innocent pen lying on his desk.

“Poor Riku’s got the worst luck!”

Riku decided to glare at his coffee mug instead. The coffee mug had been there for two weeks now. It had never actually had any coffee in it.

“Let’s see!” Axel rocked back in the chair, propping his feet on the desk and giving Riku something new to glare at. “First, you get hit by a motorcycle.”

“I was there. I remember.”

“Then you can’t work up the courage to call the guy, you coward.” Axel gave him a condescending look. Riku glared harder at Axel’s shoe, willing it to burst into flames or something. “And now he’s missing with his gun-toting brother. Congratulations, man. Your life officially sucks.”

Riku huffed, practically throwing himself against the back of his chair, weighing the pros and cons of reaching for the handgun in his desk drawer. “Axel, I’m well aware of how pathetic I am, thank you, and I really don’t need you to remind-“

“Aw, man!” Axel suddenly groaned, putting his head in his hands. Riku had the decency to look slightly concerned, for a split-second. Thankfully, Axel missed it. “With the way your life’s going, I’m gonna have to put up with your bitchiness until you die! You’re never getting laid!”

Riku had always hated Tuesdays.


	3. I Can't Drive 55

At the young age of sixteen, Axel had a dream. In order to achieve his dream, he worked a good number of crappy jobs throughout high school and college, saving every penny that he could and mooching off of Riku for things that were generally considered necessary, like food and shelter. He only managed to achieve his goal so soon thanks to a well-played five dollars and a lucky scratch-off ticket. After jumping around, waving his arms, screaming at the top of his lungs, and nearly throwing out Riku’s back when he jumped into his arms, he immediately stole Riku’s car and went out to chase his dream.

He returned three hours later with his dream achieved.

To Riku, this posed a problem.

“I would like to point out, for the hundredth time, that detectives are supposed to be subtle,” Riku pointed out, for, as he mentioned, the hundredth time that Tuesday morning. “Tell me, Axel, how is a bright red Firebird inconspicuous?”

“Technically,” Axel corrected, “it’s _crimson_.” He ignored Riku’s eye-roll and went on with the same argument that Riku had heard every time he’d brought this up. “And do you really think I’m getting in that awful thing _you_ drive after riding in _this_?”

“Spoiled brat,” Riku replied, leaning back against the black leather seat and silently agreeing with the redhead. He reached over and drowned out Axel’s reply with the melodious voice of Axel’s namesake. Three songs, two nearly-ran stop signs, and a _crimson_ light later, Axel turned the music down.

“So I was thinking,” he began.

“Don’t scare me like that, man,” Riku deadpanned.

Axel ignored his comment. “The blond kid, Roxas? He looks familiar. His name sounds familiar too, but I can’t place him.” He thumped the heel of his hand in time with the bass line of ‘Welcome to the Jungle,’ going on as the light changed. “And honestly, how many Roxases – Roxii? – do you know? It’s not a common name.” Frowning suddenly, he leaned back in his seat. “Man, what’s possessing parents these days? What the hell kind of name is ‘Roxas?’ How come you don’t meet any, I dunno, Roberts or anything? What happened to good ol’ ‘Bob’?”

“Axel.”

The redhead ignored Riku. It was something he was very good at. “I don’t know any Roxas other than the one, so I have to remember him from somewhere. I know a lot of Cids, tho-“

“Axel!” Riku interrupted before the redhead could get too far off-track. “Back to Roxas. And you missed Third Street.”

Axel swore and did an illegal u-turn, resulting in a good number of honking horns, angry shouts, and Riku’s first near-death experience of the day.

“Jesus Christ, Axel!” Riku gasped when he felt his heart start beating again.

“Where?”

“What the hell is _wrong_ with you?!” Riku closed his eyes, reminding himself that he didn’t want to wind up a prison bitch. “Just find the goddamn building.”

“You’re grumpy today, man. You forget to take some Midol?” Axel frowned again, thinking. “…What were we talking about?” he asked as he turned the wrong way down a one-way street.

“ _Just. Drive_ ,” Riku ground out through gritted teeth as he held on for dear life and prayed to whatever god was listening.

 

EXP Delivery was located in a small group of warehouses on 23rd Street. The lobby was through a door in the very first, and from the moment Riku walked in, he could hear Kairi’s voice in his head. “ _Their_ receptionist gets a fax machine. And that’s a _real_ plant!”

He shook his head in an attempt to rid himself of his secretary’s voice, failed, and walked up to the counter where the pretty brunette sat typing at the computer. She hit enter and turned in her chair, smiling at them. “What can I do for you?” she asked.

“We need to speak to…” He glanced down, pulling the business card out of his pocket. “Tifa Lockhart, if we can.”

The girl nodded and stood, moving to the door behind her. “I’ll see if she’s busy. Just a few minutes.”

Axel grinned at her. “Thanks, honey.”

She vanished behind the door and the pair took a seat in the not-cracked fake leather seats. Riku looked around at the spotless room, complete with a TV in the corner. It put their lobby to shame. Axel, meanwhile, was flipping through a magazine uninterestedly.

“Well, here you go, man. ‘Twenty-Five Ways to Please Your Man.’” Axel held up the magazine and Riku quirked an eyebrow.

“I’m not the one who needs help in that department,” Riku replied.

Axel flipped him the bird, but said nothing more than that, turning the pages of the magazine without really reading them. Finally, he abandoned it and took out the lighter he always had with him, flipping it open and shut, an annoying habit he’d developed after he had quit smoking. Riku generally kept his mouth shut about it, though, ultimately choosing the sound over the smell of cigarette smoke.

“Alright, I’ll bite,” he said a few minutes later. “What’s bothering you?”

Axel shook his head. “That kid’s driving me nuts. I can’t remember him for the life of me, but I _know_ I’ve seen him before.” He lit the lighter one more time before sliding it back into his pocket, choosing instead to take out his Memo pad. Flipping through it, he just frowned. “…Damn.”

Riku glanced at the pad as well, but couldn’t make head or tails of Axel’s strange method of note-taking beyond the odd boob-phone. And that was only because the redhead had explained it to him. “You don’t think it was any of the undercover crap we did awhile back, do you?”

Axel shrugged. “Might’ve been. I dunno. That was a long time ago and we met a lot of people.”

“It wasn’t a ‘long time ago,’” Riku replied. “A year is not a ‘long time ago.’”

“Nor is it a galaxy far, far away.” Closing the Memo pad, he slipped it back into his pocket. “I’ll remember it if it’s worth remembering.”

Riku blew out a sigh, leaning back in the fake leather seat, ignoring the ghost of rope burn along his wrists and inwardly not blaming the redhead for forgetting. The door behind the counter opened again just as he was about to say so aloud, jolting him from the past and back into the present, thankfully.

“You’re good to go!” the receptionist said cheerfully, her bouncy curls just bouncing away on her shoulders. “Go ahead and go on back, she should be around somewhere.”

They stood, pasting on smiles and thanked her, walking past, through the door that led to the chaos of the warehouse. Immediately upon crossing the threshold, they were in someone’s way and being shouted at to, “Move your asses, lamers!” They did, stepping back against the wall, and eyeing the busy warehouse. Riku decided that this was probably what Frogger felt like.

“Alright,” Axel said, looking around at the mass of people, all dressed in the same EXP Delivery uniform. “What’s this Tifa chick look like?”

Riku shrugged. “I don’t know.” He found that he had to shout over the noise of the workers. “What would you look like if you were Tifa?”

An odd look crossed the redhead’s face. “…Man. That’s an… interesting image.”

Riku glanced over at him and smirked. “Nah. You’ve got the hips for it.”

“Makes my Saturday nights interesting,” Axel replied. “Hey, I found Tifa.” He pointed out the only woman who wasn’t wearing a bright blue uniform.

“How do you know?” Riku asked. “She looks like just another chick to me.”

“I’m psychic, of course,” Axel answered with a look that clearly said, ‘Duh.’

Tifa turned and Riku saw her name in bright orange letters on the back of her shirt. “Liar,” he said.

“Am I, Riku?” Axel looked over at him, a thoughtful look on his tattooed face. “Hm. I wonder.”

Sometimes, Riku did too.

He put Axel’s possible extrasensory perception aside for the moment and carefully approached Tifa, dodging people and generally feeling like a moving a target. She turned and gave them a once-over, a twice-over in Axel’s case, before smiling at them and sliding her pen behind her ear.

“You must be the boys Olette mentioned,” she said.

“Yes, ma’am,” Riku said. “I’m Detective Ito, and this is Detective Kearney. We’re here to ask you a few questions about Roxas Martel.”

Tifa frowned. “He’s a thief.”

A movement in the corner of Riku’s eye told him that Axel was pulling out the Memo pad and a pen. “Why do you say that?” the redhead asked.

“A delivery goes missing and an employee doesn’t show up for work afterwards?” she replied. “Suspicious.” She shook her head, nearly losing the pen behind her ear. “It’s probably nothing to get worked up over, just a blank CD, but I don’t want a thief working for me.”

“How long did he work here?” Axel asked.

Tifa thought for a minute. “A year, maybe more. You’d have to get the exact details from Olette.”

“She’s the receptionist, right?” Axel questioned, jotting the name down in his pad. Tifa nodded.

“Do you do background checks on your employees?” Riku asked.

The woman nodded again. “A lot of them have minor things, fights and such when they were kids. I remember Roxas’ though. He checked out completely clean, there was absolutely nothing on his report. The whole stolen CD business was unexpected, to say the least.” She sighed. “He had an attitude, but he was a hard worker and he got the job done well.”

“Did he have any friends around here?”

“Olette, a couple of guys in packing,” Tifa replied. “And he and Hayner Elliott were nearly inseparable.”

A loud crash sounded somewhere, and the three looked toward the noise.

“Well, that’s my cue,” she said, smiling at them. “You can probably find Olette and Hayner in the break room. They have lunch right about now.”

Axel nodded, closing his pad. “Thank you, Ms. Lockhart.”

She grinned at him. “You’re welcome, weirdo.”

Clipboard in hand, she walked away, her name in bright orange on the back of her shirt. The redhead stared after her, dumbfounded, an odd mix of shock and righteous anger on his face.

“I am not _weird!_ ” he finally exclaimed indignantly.

Riku gave him a sideways study, taking in the porcupine hairdo, mismatched accessories that had defined Axel since high school, and the Beavis and Butthead tie.

“Of course not, Axel.”

Axel didn’t catch the sarcasm practically oozing from Riku’s ears.

They wandered around for about ten minutes, getting in the way and being yelled at for it before they finally found the break room hidden in the very back behind a bunch of empty crates. Olette, the receptionist, was sitting on a crate on one side of the door, next to a brown-haired kid with a goofy grin. They were looking at each other in a way that reminded Riku of junior high. On the other side of the door stood a pair of people who, very frankly, looked like they could have kicked Riku’s ass from 23rd Street to Timbuktu. They were standing close enough to touch, looking away from each other in a way that reminded him of senior year.

“We’re looking for Hayner,” he said bluntly.

They all glanced over at the closed door to the break room. Axel raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“Well, um…” Olette looked back at them, a finger on her cheek as though thinking of a way to break the bad news to them gently without having to get up and leave the smiling boy behind.

The burly guy on the other side of the door spoke up. “He’s kind of busy, y’know?” The girl beside him studied them for a moment, her visible red eye pausing to take in Axel’s appearance.

Riku moved forward, hand outstretched to open the door. Suddenly, the girl had him by the arm, and Riku found her much stronger than she looked. “Busy,” she reiterated.

“Look, miss,” he said, “I need to speak to Hayner Elliott.”

The girl released his arm with a shrug that clearly said, “Suit yourself,” and stepped back, her arms crossed. The detective watched her for a moment before knocking on the door. It didn’t open, so he tried the knob, only to find it locked. This inspired him to knock a little harder.

The door was suddenly ripped open to reveal a slightly disheveled and royally pissed off platinum blond. “What the _hell_ do you want?” he growled at Riku, who was dismayed to find the guy an inch or two taller than him.

“Are you Hayner?” he asked.

“No,” the blond snapped. “Hayner’s…” He smirked suddenly. “Hayner’s a little _tied up_ right now.”

Riku scowled right back at him. “I need to speak with him.”

The blond rolled his eyes. “Okay, look,” he said. “I have a twenty minute lunch break and a _very_ willing Hayner on my hands, so you’re going to have to come back-“

“ _Seifer Almasy, if you don’t get your ass back here and finish what you fucking started, this is never happening again!”_

The blond smirked at the interruption. Riku handed him a business card from his pocket, ignoring the fact that his face was burning for the umpteenth time in two days and Axel laughing his ass off behind him.

“Just have him come by later or something,” he said. The blond took the card and slammed the door in his face. Riku turned to face Olette.

“Okay,” he began. “I’m going to need to ask you a few questions about-“ He was suddenly cut off by his cell phone ringing in his pocket. “Excuse me, miss.” He flipped open the phone. “No, I don’t have your donuts yet.”

“Forget the donuts,” Kairi replied. Riku’s brow furrowed. Now, that just wasn’t right.

“What’s wrong?” he asked. Axel glanced over at him, closing the Memo pad. He mouthed Kairi’s name to the redhead before asking her, “Are you alright?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” she said. “Okay, I have good news and bad news. The good news is that I just renewed your car insurance about an hour ago.”

A bad feeling began weighing down like a stone in the pit of Riku’s stomach. “…What’s the bad news?” he asked, even though he didn’t really want to know.

“Well,” Kairi said, and he could see her pursing her lips in his mind. “I really don’t know any way to break this to you gently, so I’m just going to tell you very frankly. Riku, your car blew up.”

“…Kairi, I don’t think I have good service in here or something,” Riku said. “It sounds like you just said that my car blew up.”

“Oh, sorry!”

Oh, good.

“What I _should_ have said is that your car spontaneously combusted. It’s now a burning fireball in the parking lot. The police are already on their way. Don’t forget my donuts. And your insurance covers this.”

Riku wanted to scream. He wanted to throw the phone to the floor and shout obscenities at the top of his lungs. Instead, he asked one simple question that probably kept Kairi from killing him for scaring her further.

“What kind of donuts do you want?”


	4. Hair of the Dog

By the time the police, fire department, and news crews had left, all that was left of Riku’s Honda Civic was black, charred, and being towed away while Riku watched. He sat on the sidewalk curb beside Axel and Kairi, all three with a donut in one hand and a strangely blank look on his face. They were silent for the most part, really only making an effort to speak if it involved passing the Krispy Kremes and then only if pointing and grunting didn’t get the give-me-another-freakin’-donut message across. Eventually, the streetlights flickered on around them and dusk fell, but no one moved.

“It’s official,” Riku finally announced, his tone matter-of-factly resigned as he stared at the random building across the street and finished his donut. “My life sucks.”

Axel nodded, glancing down at the box and the last lonely donut. “Man, I’ve been telling you that for years,” he said. “Haven’t you been listening?”

They waited for a sarcastic comment from Kairi. Instead, Kairi reached down and snagged the last donut wordlessly. The other two glanced at her, finding her lack of input rather unnerving.

“Well, anyway,” Axel went on when it was obvious that Kairi had decided not to be a smartass, “I’m pretty sure that someone’s out to get you.”

“No shit,” Riku deadpanned. “What was your first clue, detective?” He sighed, blowing his bangs up and out of his face, thinking he should probably cut them at one point and immediately beating the thought over the head with a baseball bat.

“Think it’s got something to do with your boyfriend?”

“He’s not my boyfriend, Axel,” Riku corrected. “And of course it does. It’s just my luck. Have you met my luck? My luck bites. In the _ass_.” He sighed, laying back on the concrete and looking up at where stars would be if they weren’t surrounded by city lights before throwing his arm over his eyes. Stars were one of the things he missed about the islands that he had grown up on. “…We should probably leave and go home or something at one point. Before we get arrested for loitering.”

“Think your apartment’s still standing?” Axel asked, only half-joking.

“Probably not. You’ll have to give me a ride. Because my car, you know, _exploded._ ” He sat up again, wincing when he pushed one bruise just a little too far into the sidewalk. He and Axel stood at the same time, the redhead holding a hand out to help Kairi up. Expectedly, she took it. Unexpectedly, she didn’t quite let go of it. After a cursory glance, Riku and Axel pretended not to notice.

“Hey,” she said suddenly to Axel as Riku bent down to pick up the empty donut box, her voice a little quieter than normal. “I need a ride too.”

Riku and Axel looked over at the parking lot. At the site of the spot that was slightly blacker than all the others, Riku had to repress the urge to scream again, licking donut glaze off his lips instead. A few empty spaces away sat Kairi’s green Volkswagen Beetle, under a light.

“Sure, sweet thing,” Axel said, his smile a ghost of the know-it-all grin he usually wore, darkened by concern and whatever feeling kept Kairi’s hand in his. “We’ll even pick up some more donuts. The hot sign’s probably on by now.”

She managed a small smile, and Riku was reminded horribly of long nights and sleepless days that he really didn’t care to remember. Axel put his arm around her shoulder, informing her that, while he was buying the donuts, there would be absolutely no Savage Garden or anything that sounded like a synthesizer unless it was accompanied by David Lee Roth, and Riku could tell that he was remembering too.

He hoped he’d at least be able to find his bed among the rubble.

 

The apartment building was thankfully still standing when Axel dropped him off, handing him a hot Krispy Kreme to take with him and promising to be there to pick him up by seven the next morning. Chubchub met him at the door, a Honey Smack stuck to his tail, and Riku picked him up, not really caring if he got his work clothes covered in cat fur. He looked over the living room, with random clothes scattered about and Honey Smacks covering the floor, a layer of unorthodox cat toys that hid the carpet from view relatively well. Honestly, he hadn’t seen his carpet since the past summer. He probably couldn’t even tell you what color it was.

None of this was a surprise to him of course, nor did it particularly bother him. He was used to the mess, and knew himself very well, and knew that he really couldn’t be bothered to clean it until Kairi threatened certain important bits. This would happen the moment she walked into his apartment and saw just how much he really didn’t care.

What _did_ surprise him was the fact that he could see his kitchen table. His papers, all of his cases and other random crap, were stacked neatly to one side of the table, and – was that a table runner? When the hell did he get a table runner? The neatness was an odd contrast to the mess around him, and it gave him cause to stop a moment and stare in wonderment. His gaze slid to the broom suspiciously, and he noticed something that he probably should have noticed the moment he walked in the door, and would have, had his car not been blown up earlier that evening.

Roxas Martel was doing his dishes.

He dropped Chubchub, who, of course, landed on his feet. The cat slunk his fat self over to rub against the blond’s legs as Riku watched, completely and utterly gob-smacked. Roxas looked down at the cat with an amused quirk to his lips – it couldn’t quite be called a smile, it was much too sardonic for that – and rinsed a plate off.

Finally, Riku found his voice. “What the hell are you doing?” he demanded, not quite able to make sense of the situation and wondering if Krispy Kreme had added a new “special” ingredient to the donut glaze.

Roxas looked over at him, his almost-smile becoming deer-in-the-headlights and finally an annoyed scowl. “What does it look like I’m doing?” he replied as though it was perfectly normal for him to be doing Riku’s dishes at ten o’clock at night. “About damn time you got home. And do you eat anything _other_ than take-out, or are your arteries still screaming for a plumber?”

It was a new record. In a matter of three sentences, Roxas had already managed to piss him off. Usually, it took at least a paragraph… unless, of course, the speaker was Axel. “The occasional frozen pizza. How did you get in here, and why are you washing my dishes?”

The other, who Riku was relatively happy to note was actually a good bit shorter than him, rinsed a bowl and put it in the drainer. “I have my ways,” he replied. “Such as opening an unlocked door. Idiot.” He shot Riku a contemptuous look, and the detective responded with a glare. “And I’m washing your dishes because you _obviously_ never do.”

Riku leaned against the frame of the arch that led into his kitchen, rubbing his temples and feeling a migraine coming on, no doubt the little punk’s fault. “So you decided to break into my apartment and wash the dishes.”

“No.” Roxas rinsed out the sink, taking the towel off of his shoulder and using it to wipe down the counter. “For one thing, the door was unlocked, so there was no breaking involved. Just the entering part. And the dishes were a freebie, because I’m nice like that.”

“Yeah,” Riku replied facetiously, crossing his arms. “You’re a regular Betty fuckin’ Crocker. Why are you here?”

Roxas turned, crossing his arms as well and matching Riku’s stony glare. “To tell you, _detective_ , to get off of our asses and mind your own business before you or that ridiculous porcupine gets hurt. And if you _ever_ compare me to a housewife again, I’ll castrate you with a whisk.”

Riku’s eyes narrowed and he straightened. “Is that a threat?”

The blond shook his head. “The housewife part? Yeah. That first bit was a warning. You two are annoying, but you’re not our enemy.”

“Then who the hell blew up my car?!” Riku’s hand was on his hip, which probably looked ridiculously girly, but served enough purpose to tell him that he had once again left his gun at work. Roxas’ was at his waist. He glanced down, noticing both Chubchub and that the floor had been swept. He was willing to bet that it wasn’t the magical broom, either.

Roxas, to his surprise, looked slightly confused. “…Actually, that wasn’t me. I didn’t think that this would involve such drastic measures.”

“But you know who did it.”

After a moment of studying the detective, the blond nodded. “I do. You don’t. Get out of this mess while you still can.”

He had a reply in mind, he really did, and it was witty and cutting, but he stopped short as an overwhelming sense of déjà vu washed over him. A chill ran up his spine. “…I know you.”

“No. You don’t.” Roxas turned away from him, folding the towel neatly and placing it on the counter. “Look. Stay out of this. It’s going to get ugly really fast.” Riku didn’t reply. Roxas took it as compliance. “Great. Glad we could have this talk. Have a nice life.” He moved to walk around Riku and, ultimately, escape. Riku stepped in front of him, and Roxas took a step back into the kitchen, cocking an eyebrow and looking slightly pissed and slightly amused at the same time. It took talent to come up with an expression like that.

“You’re not just walking out of here with a crappy explanation like that,” Riku said.

Roxas’ blue eyes narrowed slightly, and he smirked. “Would you rather I kicked your ass first?”

This was the part where Riku probably could have replied with something cliché – like, “You can try!” or something equally as lame. Instead, he took advantage of the fact that Roxas was completely expecting something cliché and lunged at the blond, sending them both crashing to the recently-swept, Honey Smack-free floor. Roxas let out a surprised sound as the entire weight of a full-grown man hit him full-force, and went down without much resistance.

Unfortunately for Riku, by the time they were on the linoleum, Roxas was spitting mad and out for blood. His knee went straight into the detective’s stomach, and Riku was made painfully aware of the fact that six or so donuts were probably not good for his health, and that, at one point, he should probably get back to the gym. His grip on Roxas’ shoulders loosened for just long enough for the blond to roll them over and easily pin him to the floor, his arm across Riku’s throat and his knee poised to take out something that Riku was rather fond of, thank you very much.

“Man,” Roxas said with a smirk. “You kind of suck at this.”

Riku was concentrating so hard on coming up with a retort that wasn’t cliché and preferably involved bodily harm to the blond that he didn’t even see the fist coming until his vision exploded in bright, multi-colored stars.

 

When he came to, he first discovered that his little tiny headache had morphed into Muhammad Ali pounding his brain incessantly. His second discovery was that his eye was very, very cold and hurt very, very much, which puzzled him. His third, and probably most important, was that he couldn’t move his hands or feet.

He managed to open one eye and found that light was _not_ his friend by any stretch of the imagination. The other eye was apparently swollen shut. To his surprise, Roxas was sitting in a kitchen chair nearby, wrapping an ice pack from Riku’s fridge in a towel. He glanced up when Riku moved his head, which happened to be the only part of him not tied to his own damn kitchen chair.

“Morning, starshine,” the blond said. “For the record, I didn’t think I hit you that hard. And I didn’t figure in your head bouncing off the floor.” Riku just glared with his one eye. Roxas smirked. “Yeah. You look really scary tied to a chair, man.” He got up and walked over, pressing the ice to Riku’s eye and startling the detective. “Alright. How many of me are there?”

“One is too fucking many,” Riku practically growled in reply.

Roxas nodded, still holding the ice pack to Riku’s eye. “No serious issues, then. Good to know I won’t be the one to kill you.” He took the ice away and set it down on the table. “Now do we need to have another chat about getting off my ass and minding your own business, or are you getting the picture?”

Riku kept his mouth shut. Roxas studied him for a moment. Finally, he shrugged.

“Your funeral,” he said. He reached forward, toward Riku’s waist and snagged the cell phone off of the clip of his belt.

“What do you think you’re doing?” the detective demanded. Roxas ignored him.

“Well, I won’t say it was nice meeting you, because you’re an asshole,” the blond said. “But I’m sorry about your eye. Keep ice on it for fifteen minutes, take it off for fifteen minutes, repeat. Don’t sleep for about two hours, you might have a concussion. And hey, will you do me a favor?”

“ _No_.”

Roxas smirked again, looking down at Riku’s phone. “Tell Nami we’re okay.” He hit the call button and set the phone down on the kitchen table behind Riku. “Your pet hedgehog should be here in a while.” He turned away and got as far as the couch before he stopped. “Oh. I almost forgot something.” He walked back to Riku, who was trying to glare as scarily as possible with one eye. By the amusement on Roxas’ face, he wasn’t achieving the desired image.

Suddenly, Roxas grabbed Riku’s face between his hands, catching the detective completely off-guard, and pressed his mouth to Riku’s, taking advantage of the detective’s shock and sliding his tongue along the roof of his mouth. He pulled away again a split-second later, grinning at the shocked and astounded look on Riku’s bruised face.

“That was from Sora. Sora says hi,” Roxas said, shoving a sock in Riku’s mouth and walking out the door, leaving Riku tied to a kitchen chair with a black eye and his mind going a mile a minute.

He banged his head against the high back of the chair, cursing really fucking annoying blonds and the construction team at work in his head.

 

Axel showed up twenty minutes later, his cell phone in one hand and his gun in the other. He gave Riku quite the scare when he kicked the door in, because apparently Roxas had locked it behind him, and groaned inwardly at the thought that he’d probably have to pay for that later. Axel looked around the apartment, then slowly made his way over to Riku, the gun still held ready to shoot.

“Relax,” Riku told him. “He’s gone.”

“Who’s gone?” Axel asked, then caught sight of Riku’s spotless kitchen. “…The cleaning fairy?” He suddenly grinned. “Dude, the cleaning fairy kicked your ass!”

“Axel, fucking untie me already!” Riku snapped. He didn’t like the feeling of being restrained. It made him think too much.

Axel sobered immediately, reaching down to untie the ties that Roxas had used to keep Riku in the chair. “So what happened?” he asked, his tone serious for once.

“Roxas,” Riku replied. “He did my dishes, socked me in the eye, and kissed me.”

Axel snorted. “Domestic abuse?”

“Shut up.” Riku stood, grabbing his cell phone off the table and finally ending the call to Axel’s phone. He looked over at Axel and came to the realization that the redhead was over 90% naked. “…Axel. Why aren’t you wearing clothes?”

The other looked slightly hurt. “I’m wearing clothes!” He motioned to his boxers. “And I was worried, man,” he added quietly, handing Riku the ice pack off of the table. The detective held it up to his eye. “The last time I got a call like that…” He trailed off, and didn’t bother to finish the sentence. Riku knew what call he was talking about. “Anyway. So, Roxy the Cleaning Fairy kicked your ass for no apparent reason?”

Riku shrugged. “Same old story. Told us to stay out of it before we got in over our heads. Said he wasn’t the one who blew up my car and something cliché like ‘I’m not your enemy’ or something along those lines. Frankly, I think he showed up _just_ to piss me off.”

“And then he kissed you.” Axel was grinning in that way that made Riku want to strangle him. It probably said something about his character that he hadn’t yet. Kairi had already tried once or twice.

“He said it was from Sora,” the detective muttered. Axel’s grinned widened, rivaling the Cheshire Cat’s, and he fucking _cooed_. Riku almost did strangle him, right then and there. They stood in silence for a moment, Riku still holding the ice pack to his swollen eye, surveying the messy living room and the clean kitchen.

“I get what you mean about knowing him,” Riku said. “He gave me that feeling too.”

Axel nodded, sticking his gun into the waistband of his boxers. “Any ideas?”

After thinking for a long moment, Riku nodded. It was probably the best idea he’d had all freaking day. “Put on some pants. Let’s get pizza.”

Axel nodded. “Pizza’s good. We’ll have to swing by my apartment first. Your pants are too big for me.”

Like Riku’s pride wasn’t bruised enough. “Axel, _your_ pants are too big for you. Hell, Kairi’s pants are too big for you, you manorexic freak.”

“Hey, don’t take out your bruised ego on me.” Axel grinned at him again, and reached over to annoyingly ruffle his hair, something he usually did only after he was worried out of his mind about the silver-haired detective. “Well, you’re not dead or being held hostage, and Kairi’s in the car, so we’d better go.”

Riku decided not to make a witty comment about Axel’s state of undress and his secretary in the car. “She was really shaken up, huh?”

Axel nodded. “She’s crashing on my couch. You and I get to bomb-sweep her apartment tomorrow. Just like old times. Yippee.”

What was unspoken was that Kairi hadn’t slept on Axel’s couch in months, and Axel hadn’t done any rescue missions in his underwear for an equal amount of time. They didn’t talk about the way that Riku was still rubbing his wrists, or the fact that Axel had one hand still on the gun, the other twitching at his side like he was itching for a cigarette. They didn’t need to talk about it, nor did they want to.

So instead, Axel said, “We’d better not keep the princess waiting,” and the two left the apartment to go scare the living hell out of whoever was working the late night shift at whatever twenty-four-hour pizza place they came across.

 

Kairi was back to her normal, bossy self the next day, as Riku discovered when he was forced to actually get up at six in the morning. She, of course, was already up and dressed, and had somehow managed to turn one of Axel’s outfits into something that looked relatively good on her, her red hair pinned back all nice and neat. Riku disentangled himself from the blankets on his end of the sectional with only one or two swear words and trudged into Axel’s bathroom, scaring the holy bajeebas out of himself as he passed the full-length mirror on his way. He stopped and stared at his black eye for a moment in shock and disbelief. Finally, his other, not-so-black eye narrowed, and he muttered a string of curses that may or may not have included the revenge he planned to exact on Roxas sometime in the near future. And it would be a _very_ near future, if he had his way.

For the third morning in a row – it was only Wednesday, though going by all Riku had been through, it _should_ have been Friday, damn it all – his cell phone rang while he was in the shower. This time, however, he had his handy-dandy secretary to hand it to him with one hand over her eyes like he was going to come out of the shower in all his naked glory while _she_ was in the room – ew, girls. He could hear Axel bitching in the hallway about having to get up at the crack of dawn and what the _hell_ was Kairi doing in his pants, because she still hadn’t given the last pair she “borrowed” from him back.

And then it occurred to him just how weird this whole situation was.

And then he decided he really didn’t care.

“Hello?” he said into the phone, this time managing to actually stay on his feet and keep the shower curtain attached to the shower and in one piece.

“Riku?”

Caught by surprise, he tripped over the side of Axel’s bathtub, grabbed the shower curtain and the towel rack, and managed to take them both down with him, swearing loudly as he went. He found the phone lying a little bit away, with his voice being called, just barely loud enough to hear until he pressed it to his ear.

“I’m fine!” he said, slightly breathless. In all actuality, every inch of his body hurt, and his eye was being a royal bitch.

“No, you have a black eye and your car blew up,” Sora said. He went on before Riku could say anything. “Riku, you have to get off the case. It’s, like, really dangerous, okay? And I already ran you over, so I don’t really want to be the reason you get hurt even worse.”

“Where are you?” Riku asked, standing and grabbing a towel off the towel rack that was now on the floor.

“I’m not gonna tell you. We’re fine.” He paused, and Riku could hear him talking to someone else for a moment, unable to make out the words.

“Your brother’s an asshole.”

He heard Sora sigh over the line. “Yeah. I know.”

“And, uh, thanks for the hello.” It was lame, he knew, but it was the only think he could think of at the moment to keep Sora on the line. He was hoping that he could trace the call and get a signal off the cell towers nearby.

Sora didn’t reply for a moment. Finally, he said, “I’m going to kill Roxas.”

“No, let me,” Riku replied.

“You stay away from this,” Sora said. “Trust me and just stay where you are. Tell Naminé that we’re fine and peachy keen and go back to bed, okay?”

“What’s on that disc?”

There was a long silence, followed by the sound of a click. Riku pulled the phone away from his ear to find that, yes, the call had been ended, swearing. He put the phone down on the counter as he dried off and stuck his hand out the door for clothing, which was handed to him within five minutes, along with a mug of coffee – God bless Kairi.

He came out to find Axel already dressed and his hair already spiked, apparently having found hair gel conveniently lying around somewhere. “Was that our missing motorcyclist?” the redhead asked.

Riku nodded. “He hung up when I asked about the disc.”

“The chick said it was blank.”

“Why steal a blank disc?”

Axel nodded slowly, leaning against his wall. They could hear Kairi in the kitchen, no doubt attempting to make something that could pass as a decent breakfast, having eaten all the donuts the night before.

“You know,” Axel said. “I get the feeling we’re onto something interesting.”

Yeah. ‘Interesting’ was a good word for it.


	5. All She Wants Is...

For once in his life, Riku got to work on time. It was strange to see the morning traffic, even stranger to see it from the backseat of Axel’s car with a plate of scrambled eggs in hand. He didn’t much like it, being more of a super-early or so-late-that-the-cows-done-came-home-and-left-again person, mostly due to the noise. Honking car horns coupled with his friends’ radio war was not the sort of thing he wanted to wake up to.

So he sat in the backseat with his eggs and his left eye throbbing. Kairi had tried valiantly to cover it with makeup, but the effort had failed (and she was too tan for him, the stuff made him look like a friggin’ carrot), and unless he planned to don an eye-patch and risk being the butt of Axel’s rather large repertoire of pirate jokes, he was stuck looking like he’d been the unlucky victim of an annoying, anal-retentive blond.

Oh wait. He had been.

He stabbed an egg viciously, finishing off the last of them as Axel pulled into the teensy-tiny parking lot next to the agency. Kairi’s green Volkswagen still sat nearby, thankfully having not been used as an advertising space for the local “street artists,” looking all bright and cheery in the way-too-freaking-early morning. They walked together to the office, Riku half asleep and still carrying his now egg-less plate. They came to a sudden, synchronized stop in front of the door, the two redheads falling silent.

Kairi was the first to speak. “You know,” she said, “I think Axel should go in first.”

Riku nodded, shoving Axel forward. “I agree. Axel, you go first.”

The sacrifice in question shook his head avidly, backing up and standing behind Riku. “No way in hell. You two go in.”

“ _I’m_ not getting blown up!” Riku and Kairi exclaimed in unison.

“Well, neither am _I_!”

They simply looked at each other for a moment, then at the locked door to the dark, possibly bomb-ridden office.

“…Well, _somebody_ has to go in,” Kairi said.

“Rock, paper, scissors,” Axel suggested. He suggested it again when he lost. And once more when he lost for the second time.

“Nope!” Kairi said, Riku shaking his head in agreement with her. “It was two-out-of-three. You lost. We’ll miss you, and we’re grateful for your sacrifice.”

“You cheated!” Axel insisted indignantly. “Dynamite doesn’t count. And scissors cuts the wick off anyway.”

Kairi maturely stuck her tongue out at him. “Dynamite totally kicks scissor’s ass. Now go get yours blown up so I can get back to work, you chicken.”

Riku could feel his headache returning. He was beginning to wonder if he should see a doctor about them, with the way they kept showing up day after day.

“If you can use dynamite, then I can use bulldozer!”

Or he could just kill Axel now and save himself medical bills.

“Hey!” he interrupted before Kairi introduced Axel to the pavement. “I have an idea. Let’s all go in _together_. Like _adults_.”

Axel and Kairi looked at each other for a moment, then back at Riku.

“I’ll go if the pyro goes,” Kairi said.

“I’m not a _pyro_ , you shoe whore.”

“Just because you’re jealous that I can pull off these heels and you and your chicken legs can’t-“

Riku closed his eyes and counted backwards from ten. If he was lucky, the building would be rigged and all of his problems would go up in flames and smoke. “What are you guys, _fifteen_? Shut up and come on.”

They walked up to the door together and paused again, the mood suddenly a hell of a lot heavier. A million possible ways to rig an explosive to the door ran through their minds, and they collectively took a deep breath. Finally, Kairi pressed the key into Riku’s hand and stepped back, shielding herself with their bodies. The detective briefly wondered how they’d managed to silently decide that he’d get to be the one to blow them all sky-high, then slid it into the lock, said a little prayer, and prepared to be blasted into a bazillion tiny Riku-pieces.

He turned the key and they threw themselves to the ground.

Somewhere nearby, a bird chirped.

Riku opened his eyes and slowly sat up, looking at the door, which had not been blown off of its hinges. Even better, the hinges were attached to a building that was still standing.

“Well!” Kairi stood, dusting herself off. “That’s a relief!”

She walked inside, and that was that.

 

They couldn’t say that the day started off uneventfully. Riku and Axel found themselves checking every little nook and cranny for bombs, including Kairi’s Volkswagen, and by lunch, Riku was pretty sure that he’d be blown up at any given moment. He began writing his will on the back of one of the file folders when he realized that they still had Kairi’s apartment to sweep.

Kairi had managed to trace that morning’s call to a pay phone across town, near one of the many, many McDonald’s – honestly, how many did one city need? – which meant that the trace had pretty much been useless and Riku was, as a result, very discouraged.

“We’ll head for Springfield tomorrow,” he told Kairi, meaning himself and Axel. “Pay Sora’s brother a visit. Can you look up the directions for it?”

Axel grinned. Springfield was a three-hour drive away, which meant that, for Axel, it was really an hour-and-a-half drive away. This meant that he got to drive his Firebird for an hour and half.

“I’ll stay,” she said. “I actually have paperwork to catch up on.”

Axel’s grin faltered a bit. “You should come,” he said, putting his feet up on her desk. She pushed them off with a disgusted look at the redhead, then wiped her hand daintily on his sleeve. “Might not be safe here all alone.”

“I’ll be fine, thanks,” Kairi replied, flipping through the files in the cabinet beside her. “I’m a big girl. And after you make sure that I won’t blow myself up trying to cook dinner tonight, I’m sure I’ll be A-okay.” She found the files that she had been looking for and passed them to Axel. “Roxas and Sora,” she said by way of explanation.

Axel passed one to Riku, who sat down in the cracked chair beside the redhead’s. He opened it to discover that in May of the past year, Sora had gotten a speeding ticket and was, true to his word, twenty-two.

Axel, however, looked slightly puzzled. “Hey, princess? Are you sure this printed off right?”

Kairi nodded, pulling up something on the computer screen. Upon closer inspection, Riku found that she was buying about two hundred dollars worth of shoes. “Yeah. I thought it was weird too.”

“What’s weird?” Riku asked.

Axel passed him the folder with a shrug. “Roxas Martel doesn’t exist.”

Riku frowned, flipping open the folder and wondering why Kairi had even bothered to print out the “Search term not found” page. “What?”

“He doesn’t exist,” Kairi replied. “At least, that name doesn’t. I’m sure he _exists_ , but he’s apparently using a different name. There’s no trace of Roxas Martel anywhere, not even on a Google search. There’s barely anything on Sora as it is.” Riku looked down at the papers in his hand, which he now noticed was a fairly small stack. “The address listed is old, runs to Vienna.”

“Vienna’s, what?” Axel thought for a minute. “Three hours away?”

“Six for us normal people,” Kairi said. “And there’s another odd thing or two about Sora. I did my homework and called the university uptown. He’s not listed in any classes. People have seen him around campus, he sits in on classes every day, but no one’s ever bothered to find out who he is.”

Axel ‘hmm’-ed, tapping the folder against his chin. “But Roxas had to have a background check to work at EXP.”

Kairi nodded. “They’re next on my list to call. They should still have a copy of it on file.” She nodded to Riku, pointing at the folder in his hand. “Look at the second page.”

Riku flipped to the next page as Axel leaned over to read over his shoulder. “…Wow,” the redhead said, bright green eyes skimming down the page. “Everything but a chauffer’s license.”

“Mmhmm.” Kairi finished typing in her credit card number and stowed the plastic away in her purse, exchanging it for Easter-egg-blue nail polish. “Now look closer at the ticket.”

Flipping back to the first page, Riku studied it for a moment. “Speeding,” he said.

“…by the Water Patrol,” Axel added.

“In a yacht,” Kairi finished. “I didn’t even know you could speed in a yacht. Now, I looked up the report for the ticket-“

“Hacker,” Axel threw in, but he was grinning.

“I prefer the term ‘Professional Information Researcher and Liberator.’ Anyway,” she went on, “I _researched and liberated_ the report for the ticket, and found out that he was completely and totally alone on it, at ten at night.”

“Curious,” Axel said slowly, mimicking a British accent – badly. “How very curious.”

Kairi paused in the painting of her thumbnail. “Axel, be normal. And you sucked at that accent back in high school drama, you suck at it now.”

“He’s been reading _Harry Potter_ again,” Riku told her, flipping through the small collection of papers that made up the entirety of the information they had on Sora.

She rolled her eyes. “Again? Are you serious?”

“No, I’m Axel!”

She hit him with the nail polish brush, getting a streak of blue down his cheek.

Riku tuned the ensuing argument out, flipping through the file once more. Twenty-two, brown hair, blue eyes, five-foot-five. Pretty much legal to drive anything but a limousine or a taxi cab, including his pilot’s license. Apparently unknown to the school he was studying at to become a teacher. Something was off. (What was your first clue, detective?)

“Kairi,” he said, interrupting a nail polish war between the two redheads. “See if you can get Naminé Martel on the phone, and that background check for Roxas. We need to dig deeper.” She simply looked at him, one eyebrow quirked. Finally, he sighed and relented. “Please?”

She finished one hand, waved it around a bit, and got to work on the second one. “And?”

Riku thought for a moment. “…And I owe you cheesecake?”

The look on her face clearly said, “You can do better than that.”

Sea-green eyes slid to Axel for help. Axel was good at creative begging. Riku kind of failed at it. Luckily, his partner-in-fighting-crime took pity on him.

“And you are amazing, O Great Kairi!” Axel fell to his knees, the folder clasped in his hands. “We would be lost without you, wandering the dark abyss of the internet, never knowing where the object of our quest lies! Your hacking skills-“

She cleared her throat.

“Uh, _researching and liberating_ skills are unmatched throughout the world, including the guys who did the zombie apocalypse signs! We can’t function without you! You are the pen to our paper, the Nancy to our Drew, the Mr. Spock to our Enterprise!” He suddenly grabbed her hand, careful of the wet paint on her nails. “ _You are the hot sauce to our taco!_ ” (1)

She sighed melodramatically, waving him up in a dismissive manner befitting a queen. “I _suppose_ that I could grace you with my higher feminine intelligence once more before I stow you underground for breeding…” Axel and Riku shuddered inwardly. She smiled, painting another nail a bright blue, and nodded to Riku’s office door. “You two have paperwork to do, remember?”

The realization hit when he was walking through the door with her voice echoing in his head, telling him to do paperwork and paused, glancing back at her. Somehow, though his name was on the sign outside, she had become the boss of their little operation.

He walked into his office, leaving the door open, deciding that he’d just duke out alpha status with her later (translation: He was going to be her bitch until he _died_ , damn it all.). He sat down, resting his head on his hand as he flipped through the file again, as though waiting for the answers to all of his questions to appear on the pristine white pages. They stayed hopelessly and unhelpfully blank, however, the few black letters glaring back at him, mixing and diving and echoing gray the longer he stared at them. Finally, he closed the folder, leaned back, and ran over everything again in his mind.

Axel stuck his head in the door. “Hey. I’m doing a Chinese run. You want-“ The bell above the door cut him off suddenly, and he frowned, knowing that his Chinese food was apparently to be delayed. He gave Riku a look that clearly said that it was somehow the other’s fault and it would be coming out of his wallet.

“Hey, Little Red! How ya been?”

The voice stopped them both in mid-motion, Axel half-turned and Riku partially standing. Finally, they heard Kairi laugh and say something in reply, snapping them out of their shock. Axel turned fully in time to see a man in a Hawaiian shirt shoot the girl a sunny smile and walk right past her, up to where Axel stood in the doorway to Riku’s office. His grin stayed in place as he pulled his sunglasses to the top of his mullet-clad head and shifted his guitar case to the other shoulder.

“Hey, Red!” he greeted cheerfully. “I’m thinkin’ that you guys could probably help me out a bit.”

“And I’m thinking that we can’t,” Axel replied, smirking in return.

“Aw, come on!” A lip stuck out in a perfect puppy-dog pout. “It’s been so long since I’ve seen you guys! I just came to say hi.”

“No, you didn’t.” Riku stood behind the desk, arms crossed, hoping he looked at least somewhat intimidating with one black eye and almost-healed bruises. “Isn’t this kind of job a little too mean for you, Demyx?”

Demyx pushed past Axel, leaning his guitar case against the desk and flopping into one of the chairs. “Nah, I don’t have to kill you.”

“Yet,” Axel finished quietly, closing the door.

Demyx barely spared him a glance, his gaze instead trained on Riku. “Man, you look like hell!” he laughed. “You fall down a flight of stairs?”

“Demyx, what do you want?” Axel demanded before Riku could get the same words out.

The blond held up his hands. “Hey, I’m just the messenger, don’t bite _my_ head off.”

Riku sat down again, knowing he wasn’t going to like the answer to his next question. “Well, what’s the message, then?”

“Get off the case,” Demyx replied. “Trust me, boys, it’s not worth it.”

With a sigh, Riku crossed his arms. “And why couldn’t you have told me this _before_ you blew up my car? No, wait, don’t tell me. It wasn’t your idea.”

The blond nodded, practically bouncing. “Nope! It was-“

“Larxene,” Axel interrupted. Demyx pouted a bit. “Has her written all over it. Why didn’t we see that at first?”

Demyx laughed, his moods changing lightning fast. “I don’t blame you for repressing your memories of her.” He sat up a little straighter, leaning forward, elbows on his knees. “So. Do I have to make my point, or are you gonna leave Roxy alone?” His grin widened into something that wasn’t so sunny or cheerful, a lazy finger pointing at Riku’s eye. “Or did he teach you that himself? I feel sorry for you. He’s got a mean punch, doesn’t he?” He leaned back, the smile still playing around his lips, eyes watching Riku intently. “Too bad he left before things got real interesting… Gave you some goodbye though.”

Riku clenched his jaw, fury rippling through him at the thought of being spied on, possibly nonstop for months. His fingers gripped the chair arms, and he reminded himself that Demyx wasn’t alone, those bastards never did anything alone, and it wasn’t worth it to die now.

“Oh, Red!” Demyx turned that smug smile on Axel. “You were awesome last night! You were James Bond all the way, bro. Even had the sexy lady waiting for you all alone in nothing but a t-shirt while you saved the day. I honestly thought you’d have a martini with that pizza.”

Axel returned the grin easily. “Thanks. Those were some great subtle threats you threw in, there.”

Demyx’s smile faded a little.

“You know what cracks me up?” Axel stood a little straighter, shoving one hand in his pocket. He probably looked cocky to Demyx, but Riku knew that the hand was wrapped around his lighter like a safety blanket. “See, you guys have been giving us the same bull for awhile now and, well.” He spread his arm out as if to say, “Here I am!” “I’m still kicking, last I checked.” He leaned back against the wall. “Besides, you can’t put a hit out on the guys who saved your sorry asses.”

And just like that, Demyx’s smile was back full-force.

“Oh, don’t worry about that!” the blond said merrily, looking at the closed door that led to the office. “The hit wouldn’t be for _you_.”

A cold burst of fear exploded in their chests, extinguishing the righteous anger that had burned there only moments before. Axel’s smirk vanished in record time, morphing into a tight-lipped, narrowed glare of terrified rage. Demyx just smiled in reply, stood, and stretched.

“Anyway,” he said, grabbing his guitar case, “it was great seeing you guys again.” He turned and walked out, waving goodbye with one hand. Axel stuffed his hands in his pocket, tempted to reach out and wrap his hands around the blond’s pale, hemp-covered neck.

They were silent, unmoving, as they listened to him leave, calling out a goodbye to Kairi and promising to play a song for her at his next gig. She appeared at the door to their office moments after the bell jingled, smiling and fanning her almost-dry nails. “God, I love that guy.”

She jumped as Axel’s fist connected with the wall behind him, staring at him as though he’d lost his mind before turning to Riku for an explanation.

“They want us to drop the case,” he said quietly, looking at Axel with the silent command to calm his ass down.

Kairi blew on her nails. “So? You’re not going to listen, are you?”Riku was silent. She glanced to Axel, who was digging in his pocket for his lighter. “Look, you can’t keep letting them boss you around! Come on, this is the most interesting case we’ve had in months. So what if-“

“They’ll put a hit out,” Axel interrupted tonelessly, almost indifferently, if he hadn’t been flicking the lighter with gritted teeth and narrowed eyes.

“They can’t,” Kairi replied, confused. “Remember, you-“

“Damn it, we _know_ what we did!” Axel snapped.

“Axel, cool it.” Riku put a cool hand on his forehead, trying to chase away the cold anger long enough to think straight. “Kairi, it wouldn’t be for us.”

“Then who…” She let the sentence trail off, her hand freezing, eyes widening. She sat down heavily in the seat that Demyx had recently vacated. “…oh,” she breathed, looking somewhere past Riku. Then, her mouth settled into a determined line, and her hands began fanning with renewed vigor. “Okay, so people want to kill me. Whatever.”

“Not yet,” Axel corrected in the same flat voice. On, off, one finger tapping against his leg.

“The point, boys, is that I am a big girl. With a taser and three guns, one of which I carry on me at all times. I’ve lived through people trying to kill me before, you know.” She stood, putting her hands on her hips, her nails apparently dry enough. “And I worked my cute little ass off getting that info for you, so it had better not go to waste or I’m never working that hard again for either of you.”

Riku looked at Axel, who flipped the lighter on and off a few more times. Finally, he sighed, resting his head back against the wall and flattening a few spikes. “Princess-“

“Axel, I swear to God,” she interrupted. “If you give me anything similar to, ‘It’s too dangerous,’ or ‘We’re just trying to keep you safe,’ I’ll burn all of your pants. And I know how hard it is to find any in your freakish size.”

Axel looked at Riku, silently asking for his help convincing her that the stakes were too high this time around, that they couldn’t play this game of cat-and-mouse again. Riku just shrugged, knowing full well that she was able to take care of herself, and secretly wanting to find Sora before those bastards did.

“…Goddamn it,” the redhead muttered. “Your ass better be fucking _super-glued_ to mine and you’re at my place until this is all over with.”

She smiled at him. “It’s cute when you go all big brother on me. Kinda freaky ‘cause we’re not related – thank God – but cute.”

Axel didn’t reply. Instead, he just shoved the lighter back in his pocket and walked past her, patting her head as he left to assure her that she wasn’t the reason for his ire. They heard the door jingle as he left. Kairi sat again and Riku sighed heavily.

“He’ll be back soon,” she said like Riku didn’t know that he’d only left to sulk against a brick wall nearby and plan ways to avoid the thousand various scenarios that were running through his head – all of them ending with the same gruesome image that would keep him awake for weeks. Once upon a time, there would be a cigarette in one hand. Now, there would be just the steady flick of the lighter and the burning desire for nicotine that he would stubbornly refuse himself.

“I just hope that he remembers he’s our ride.” Riku knew for a fact that Kairi wasn’t going to go within ten feet of that Volkswagen – twenty, if he could help it.

“I just hope that he remembers he’s got the only key to my current place of residence,” Kairi added. “And the Chinese food. I hope he remember the Chinese food.”

Axel simply hoped that he could forget everything.


	6. Sweet Emotion

Thursday morning dawned, finding Riku bleary-eyed and confused in the backseat of Axel’s Firebird. There seemed to be a strange absence of his bed, seeing as it was only a half-hour past six, and therefore Way Too Fucking Early. He sat up and looked around, surprised to find Kairi half-asleep in the front passenger seat, a Venti caramel macchiato clutched in her hand like a lifeline. Axel, however, was wide-awake, singing along with the music under his breath, thankfully aware that the world did not need to be graced with his musical talents at Way Too Fucking Early in the morning. He was further surprised to realize that Axel’s prized Ghetto-worthy speakers were playing _Journey_ of all things.

“What th’ hell?” he said drowsily by way of greeting, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

Kairi yawned, sipping her macchiato. “That’s what I said. Early bird here decided that we should try and catch the worms. Here.” She handed him another Styrofoam cup. “Double chocolate chip Frappuccino with an espresso shot.”

He took the cup as though it were the Holy Grail filled to the brim with the Elixir of Life. “I love you.”

“I know,” she replied, her words distorted by another yawn. “Now prove it and put on a shirt. The duffel bag’s in the floorboard.”

Riku looked down and noticed that he was still in his pajama bottoms, suddenly very thankful that he hadn’t opted to sleep in his birthday suit, which he had seriously considered. The duffel bag was filled with mostly Axel and Kairi’s clothing, and Riku wound up holding his breath to squeeze into a pair of Axel’s freakishly skinny jeans and somebody’s old band t-shirt. He didn’t bother looking at the name, deciding he really didn’t care either way.

“So,” he said after the caffeine had finally reached his brain. “How’d you get me in the car?”

Axel glanced at him in the rearview mirror. “Carried you, dumbass, how d’you think?”

Axel, apparently, was still not in the best of moods. Riku was glad that he wasn’t Demyx at the moment. Of course, he was usually glad he wasn’t Demyx, because Hawaiian shirts were _not_ his thing, but at this exact point in time, Riku was extra glad. Axel’s rage was not to be taken lightly. Especially when he was playing Journey on the radio.

With that final line, the rest of the ride seemed doomed to be spent in silence and contemplation, and a good, long nap on Kairi’s part, mostly due to Axel’s lumpy couch and a late-night Lifetime movie marathon. Riku slipped into a stupor of sorts, resting his head against the window’s cool glass, his hand mechanically lifting every two minutes or so to bring the life-giving caffeine to his lips. Axel sang along with Journey under his breath, out of tune and off-key, mimicking the guitar riffs with quiet wails.

At a quarter past seven (still Way Too Fucking Early), the Jeep passed them.

Riku let out a yelp, the Frappuccino went flying – all over Axel’s leather seats, _might he add_ – and Kairi shot awake with a loud and slurred, “I wanna be Jesse’s girl!”

“Was that…?” Axel asked, slightly in shock.

“It was,” Riku replied. “Gun it.”

With those two simple words, Axel’s bad mood lifted away like a hot air balloon out of control in the middle of a hurricane. A Cheshire Cat grin graced his face as he reached over, pushing a button to flip CDs, and his foot met the floor. The sounds of AC/DC filled the car, and Riku leaned forward, eyes on the Jeep not so far ahead.

“Oh God!” Kairi gripped the little pocket in the door, the one that has no real name (like the dangly thing in the back of your throat), her other hand still holding her coffee. “What the hell’s going on?”

“We have the worms in our sights,” Axel replied, zipping around a silver Malibu.

“Good job, early bird,” she said, still looking as though she’d rather be anywhere else than in any car that Axel was driving. “Please don’t get us kill- _ohmygod!_ ” She lurched suddenly to the side as Axel swerved into the next lane, following the green Jeep and narrowly missing colliding with a Prius. Riku’s cell rang and he absent-mindedly grabbed it off the seat beside him, watching the Jeep up ahead and glad that he wasn’t in the shower for once.

“He-“

His polite, mandatory greeting was cut off with a rude (and loud, because Riku had apparently accidentally hit speaker-phone), “Call your damn porcupine off!”

After nursing his poor, abused ear, Riku opened his mouth to reply when he was once again interrupted.

“Did the cleaning fairy just call me a _porcupine?_ ” Axel demanded, turning the radio down and swerving after the Jeep again, causing Kairi to yelp.

“…Did he just call me the fucking _cleaning fairy_?”

“Well, you did work wonders in Riku’s kitchen, honey,” Axel replied. Riku felt his stomach do an unsettling acrobatic trick as he followed the Jeep and nearly went off the interstate. “You put Martha Stewart to shame.”

“Oh, I hope to God you catch us,” Roxas growled in reply. “I can’t wait to castrate you.”

“And you’ll use Pampered Chef to do it.”

Riku debated burying Axel in a suit or in concert swag, and began mentally writing his eulogy. Kairi was making deals with God under her breath.

“Listen, you son of a-“

“My mother was an amazing woman with a great vocal range!”

“- if you don’t get off of our asses _right now_ –“

“And what a fine ass it is, going by the pictures I’ve got here.”

Silence came from the phone. Apparently, Axel’s last comment had shocked Roxas speechless. Riku was going over tombstones and funeral costs in his head.

“Listen, blondie, you can’t outrun my Firebird. Pull over and I’ll take you out to breakfast.” Axel was grinning in a way that Riku had never seen before and, frankly, it was scaring the hell out of him. “Or, hey, drive to your favorite place and I’ll follow your lovely ass there. I’ll even buy, baby.”

“Follow this, asshole.” The line cut off at the same time that the Jeep suddenly cut across the median of the interstate, four-wheel driven trail-rated superiority coming into play. Riku watched it zip away in the opposite direction with a sigh. Kairi was digging in her purse for the small bottle of rum she kept on hand for days like these. Axel was still grinning.

He leaned back in the seat, slowing down and punching the CD player for Aerosmith. He caught Riku’s eye in the mirror. “Well,” he said, “I think I’m in love.”

Kairi passed the bottle to Riku.

 

They stopped for breakfast at a Cracker Barrel in some interstate town along the way. Kairi managed to slip the rum in and mixed it with the coffee she ordered when the waitress wasn’t looking. Axel was still grinning, and Riku was pretty sure that he was probably never going to see Sora again.

“We should still go on to Springfield,” he said. “They were headed that way, and they’ll probably turn around the next chance they get, thinking they’ll throw us off.”

Axel shrugged, still grinning and looking more and more like an idiot as he twirled his butter knife in one hand.

“You really think we’ll be able to catch ‘em today?” Kairi asked. She poked at a biscuit, her appetite for breakfast still struggling to catch up with them. It was probably lost somewhere on the interstate, left in the dust of Axel’s driving. “They’ll be watching out for us now. Be hard to sneak up on them.”

Riku’s appetite, on the other hand, had somehow managed to keep up. His eyes flicked from weird historical decoration to the waitresses milling about, hoping one of them was bringing his blueberry pancakes soon. “It’ll be like a game of tag.”

“Only we’re adults – and I use the term loosely – and we have a much bigger playground than when we were kids.” Kairi sipped her coffee and blinked at Riku, as though he hadn’t thought this through at all and should be better with his comparisons. In Riku’s defense, it was only somewhere around eight o’clock in the morning – still Way Too Fucking Early.

“I like tag,” Axel threw in. Riku and Kairi glanced over at him and found him grinning dreamily at an ad for some soap from a hundred years earlier. “Hm… wonder what Roxy’ll give me as a prize when I catch him?” The smile turned positively lecherous.

“…Oh my god, he wasn’t kidding,” Kairi said in disturbed wonder. “He’s really fallen for the cleaning fairy.”

“It was one phone conversation. This is lust,” Riku corrected her, scooting away from Axel, just in case whatever strange _thing_ he had was contagious.

The secretary smiled at him. “Of course it is, dear.”

“Love at first sight is overrated and nonexistent.”

“I agree. However, this was love at first insult, and is therefore much different.” She sat back in her chair, cup held in her hands, condescendingly smug smile on her face.

Riku shook his head. “That’s warped.”

“It’s got a certain charm to it.” She took a sip of her coffee, blue eyes roaming around the room. Suddenly, she sat up straight, placing the cup on the table. “Well, look at that. Our _friends_ decided to join us for breakfast.”

The tone of her voice managed to pull Axel out of his fantasies of introducing Roxas to the many uses of maple syrup and he glanced toward the door. His good mood promptly hopped on a horse and waved goodbye heading for the hills in search of greener pastures. Riku simply wondered how much more harassment he was going to have to put up with.

“Red, Little Red, Riku. Got a gig tonight, saw your car, thought we’d stop in and say hi!” Demyx sing-songed, grabbing a chair from a nearby table and pulling it up to theirs. He sat down backwards, folding his arms over the back of the chair, and pushed his sunglasses up to the top of his head. The blonde that followed him pushed them back down, causing him to scowl in annoyance. She took the seat beside Kairi, throwing her arm over the back of the chair and effectively cutting off all means of escape.

“So we’re graced with your illustrious presence again, hm?” Kairi said, smiling like she didn’t know what they were here for. “And it’s been awhile, Larxene! How goes the quest?”

The other girl rolled her eyes. “I swear to God. If I ever see another man again, it’ll be too damn soon.”

“Aw, what about us?” Demyx asked, smiling again.

“The term ‘man’ implies masculinity,” Larxene replied.

Demyx grinned in response to her smirk. “Well, you’ve got enough for all of us, so it’s okay.”

She ignored him and glanced over at Axel and Riku, who didn’t seem to share Demyx’s joking mood. “Wrong side of the bed this morning, Red?”

It should be noted that Axel hated that nickname with every passionate fiber of his being. And, although he was rather skinny, he did have a lot of fibers in his being. A good number of them were passionate as well.

Thankfully, Riku answered for him, thereby saving him from doing something stupid that would probably have ended in his precious Firebird being blown sky-high. “What the hell did my car ever do to you?”

Larxene laughed, highly annoyingly and matching the malicious gleam in her bright green eyes perfectly. “Hey, you weren’t in it, were you? And here I was, being _thoughtful_!”

“She hated your car, man,” Demyx said, snagging Riku’s coffee and taking a sip. He shuddered, making an odd face, and reached for the add-ins. “Don’t worry, Red, she loves yours.” He took another drink of Riku’s new and improved coffee, nodding his approval.

“Fantastic,” Axel replied, though he was secretly thankful. His Firebird was safe … for the moment.

“So what brings you all to Springfield, huh?” Larxene asked as the waitress brought the trio’s food and took down the other two’s orders, putting it onto Riku’s bill.

“Shopping,” Kairi lied easily. “I dragged my two favorite bag-holders with me. Thought it’d be nice if we all just took a day off and bought me new shoes.” She took a sip of her spiked coffee.

“Are you super-excited or something?” Demyx asked, resting his chin on his arms. “A hundred miles an hour is a little dangerous, Axel… You nearly took off my headlight!”

Riku had a bad feeling about where this conversation was going.

“You see,” Larxene went on for him. “We saw your little stunt on the interstate today…” She rocked back in the chair, black overcoat swishing the floor and one combat boot pushing against the wooden bar underneath the table. “Was the warning yesterday not enough?”

Her hand tightened around Kairi’s shoulders. The redhead took a long, deep drink of her rum-laced coffee.

“It was a complete coincidence,” Riku said, feeling Axel’s arm brush his as he reached into his pocket for the lighter and hoping the redhead could keep his mouth shut long enough for him to lie convincingly. “We saw ‘em in the Jeep and Axel ran with it.” He suddenly looked at Demyx strangely. “…A _Prius_ , Demyx?”

“Okay, see, here’s the thing.” Demyx was still smiling at him, scaring him in a completely different way than the one that Axel had worn earlier. “You ‘ran with it’ and ran our target off the road and into the other lane of traffic. And now, we get to go back and report that we lost them. Because of you. And my Prius is-“

“Now the good part is that we won’t get blamed for it,” Larxene continued, not really caring about Demyx’s headlight or the fact that he drove a Prius. “You will.”

“Okay, wait,” Axel said, holding up a hand. His expression was an odd mix of confusion and holy-crap-you-ate-my-mother type of annoyance. “I was under the impression that they were working for you.”

Larxene laughed again. It was really starting to grate on the nerves of everyone present, including Demyx, if the falter in his vaguely goofy smile was any indication. “No, no, no… Not anymore, anyway. But that’s classified info that you’re not getting out of us, and _you_ , my dear little heroes…” She leaned forward and had the audacity to tap Axel on the nose. He looked as though he would have liked to chomp her finger right off, no matter how disgusting black nail polish tasted. “Well, you’re practically in the same boat, aren’t you?”

Kairi finished off her coffee, blinking before she turned her gaze coolly to Larxene. “So you stopped by to tell us that it’s our fault you don’t get to kill Roxas and Sora today?” She took a bite of her pancakes, though Riku was pretty sure that there was a stone in her stomach that made it hard to swallow, much like the one in his. “Really, you don’t think we were expecting that? And yes, I know that I’ve probably signed my death warrant. But you’re not going to kill _me_ today either. Dogs like you don’t hunt without the proper commands, do you?”

Demyx gave her an easy smile. “Yep, you’ve got the big bad wolves pegged, Little Red.”

“No, _today_ …” Larxene patted her shoulder, one of her claw-like nails _accidentally_ grazing the side of Kairi’s neck and drawing a thin line of red. “Today we just get to have breakfast with you and chat like old friends. Tomorrow we’ll kill you. Just you, of course, we still owe _them_.” She made a dismissing motion with one hand toward Axel and Riku, very nearly hitting the former in the face.

“Actually,” Demyx said, one hand untangling to reach for the cell phone clipped at his waist. He flipped it open and studied it for a minute before looking at Larxene. “Change of plans.”

Riku felt his heart stop and plummet downwards in his chest as Kairi’s fork stilled and Axel tensed beside him.

“No breakfast or chatting for us,” he said, standing and pushing his sunglasses down again. “We’ve got other things to take care of.”

“Ta, boys. Good luck with your shopping, Little Red. You really should splurge on yourself, darling. It’s not every day you get to pick out the perfect dress to match your coffin.” Larxene stood, patting Kairi’s cheek a little harder than necessary, and walked past Demyx to snag the waitress and ask for a to-go box. Demyx paused as he was leaving, glancing back at Kairi. Then, he looked back at Larxene, almost thoughtfully.

“For the record,” he said with a smile, “if we can’t find you, we can’t kill you.”

“What’s that, Demyx?” Axel growled. “Growing a heart?”

The blond turned to him, still smiling, but it was hard to tell just what kind of smile it was when his eyes were hidden behind dark sunglasses.

“Nah,” he said. “I don’t dedicate songs to dead girls.”

He strode off without so much as a goodbye, though Riku had to admit that he wasn’t too worried about how rude Demyx’s exit was. They were silent as they watched Larxene and Demyx vanish around the corner, black overcoat contrasting with bright Hawaiian print. Finally, Kairi looked down at her pancakes again, and sighed. Riku and Axel, on the other hand, hadn’t even bothered to pick up their forks.

“Fuck,” Axel said. “I don’t like tag anymore.”

“I hated it back in kindergarten,” Riku replied. “You always pushed me down when you tagged me, jackass.”

“It was your fault. I don’t know how yet, but I’ll think of it later.” Axel pulled out the lighter, now that Larxene and Demyx were gone and couldn’t ask him where his cigarettes were (though he had the sneaking suspicion that they already knew, the nosy bastards). “So what now?”

“Careful, we’re in non-smoking,” Kairi warned half-heartedly. “I’d rather not get in more trouble, thank you.”

“Do you _see_ a smoke? There’s no smoke. Just fire.” He stared at the flame for a moment before putting it out and clicking it back on. Lather, rinse, repeat. “Happy fire.”

Riku averted his eyes, digging into his blueberry pancake (complete with blueberry syrup), having decided that he was going to eat it if he had to pay for it. “Here’s what I’m thinking. Axel and I aren’t about to be murdered anytime soon, so-“

“What about maimed?” Kairi interrupted, twirling her fork and watching it strangely. It appeared that the coffee had finally kicked in. “The bitch never said anything about maiming. She could still maim you.”

Riku set down his fork again slowly, trying to banish the gruesome images from his mind, replacing it instead with dancing puppets and David Bowie music – that always seemed to calm him down somewhat. “Yeah, well… Anyway,” he went on, “You’re going to have to go on the run anyway, so why don’t we just go ahead and jump the train to hell?” She continued twirling her fork. “Kairi. Eat, you lightweight.”

She looked down again. “Oh, goodie. A last meal.”

“Why not?” Axel sighed. “I’ve never been maimed before. Could be fun.”

“I doubt it,” Riku replied. “But cheer up.”

Axel was quiet for a moment, alternately watching his lighter and Kairi. “…Hey, gimme your phone.”

Immediately suspicious, Riku’s hand covered his cell protectively. “Why?” he asked, eyes narrowed.

His partner was the picture of innocence. “I thought of a way to cheer myself up. Now give it.”

Reluctantly, Riku handed it over, only to snatch it back a moment later when he heard Axel murmur, “Phone-sex time, my dear cleaning fairy… What the hell, man?!”

“We already have _one_ homicidal blonde after us.” Riku shoved his phone into the pocket on the opposite side of Axel. “Do you really want another-“ He then found himself being conveniently interrupted for the third time that day by his cell phone ringing. Glancing down, he stared at the number for a moment in bewilderment before answering it cautiously.

“Hel-“

“I don’t want to talk to you, Ito,” Roxas said, annoyed already. Interruption number four. “Put the _other_ one on. And do you realize that you’re wearing a Rick Springfield shirt? Although Sora says you look good in those tight jeans of – ow!”

Riku looked down at his shirt and swore. “Damn it, Kairi!” She just waved her fork in his direction as an apology. Roxas huffed, annoyed again. Did he ever sound _not_ annoyed? “This is going to blow up his ego, you know. And you’re going to get hit on multiple ti-“

“Roxy?!” Axel made a grab for the phone, which Riku surrendered easily, mentally marking a fifth tally for the interruptions, deciding to buy all of them each an Emily Post book for the next holiday.

Assuming he lived that long, of course.

“Miss me, baby?” Axel asked. There was a pause as he grinned, which Riku assumed meant that Roxas had insulted him. “Aw, so you called just to cheer me up? It’s flattering that you’re keeping an eye on me. That overprotective streak is adora- They did _what?!”_ His hand slammed against the table, knocking over his mug of coffee and causing Kairi to look up from her pancakes in alarm. “…Oh my god.”

By now, Riku was pretty sure that the three-word phrase was the mantra of their lives.

“What’s up?” he asked.

Instead of replying, Axel shot up from the table and dashed out the door, phone still held to his ear. Riku and Kairi looked at each other.

“You go,” Kairi said, scarfing down her food. “I’ll pay and box it up.”

Riku nodded and followed his partner out of the restaurant, ignoring the curious stares from the other patrons. He found Axel standing in the parking lot, staring at his beautiful Firebird, a look of sheer horror on his face and the phone still held to his ear. There was a single round bullet hole in his back window, seemingly the cause of his shock. What struck Riku dumb, though, was not the fact that the side of the car had been keyed, nor the large dent on the driver’s door. No, what shocked Riku into speechlessness was the pair standing right by it, one on the phone and the other looking at the Firebird in wounded awe.

“My baby,” Axel finally muttered, sounding as though he very well might cry. “My poor baby…”

“That’s just…” Sora shook his head, horrified at the scratch running down the side. “That’s just _wrong_.”

“It’s a _car_ ,” Roxas said into the phone, like Axel wasn’t standing _right there_. “Now get the fuck in it so we can get the fuck out of here before we die. I really don’t want to die.”

Slowly, as if in a trance, Riku walked over and tapped Sora’s shoulder. Slowly, the brunet managed to tear his eyes away from the poor car and look at him.

“Tag,” Riku said, wondering if the fates or the gods or whatever ran the world was finally working in his favor. “You’re it.”


	7. Thunderstruck

Five minutes after finding Sora and Roxas in the parking lot, Riku was officially convinced that Bad Days were the new norm for him. It wasn’t that he wasn’t happy to see them or anything. No, he was _very_ happy to see Sora, at least, much happier than he should have been, considering the fact that Sora was probably a wanted criminal or something. Roxas, on the other hand, he wasn’t so happy to see. But that was probably because Roxas was the reason people were giving him a wide berth – he looked like he’d just come back from a fight club.

“Get off the ground, you idiot, and get in the car!” Roxas was pulling at Axel, glancing around fervently, like they were sitting ducks or something – which, Riku supposed, they were. Axel, however, would not be moved from his place kneeling behind his baby, mouth open in horror as he studied the scratched paint.

At the moment, though, Riku didn’t really care whether they were about to be sniped from the nearest tall building. You see, Sora was standing in front of him, looking vaguely embarrassed and slightly nervous and, all in all, very cute. His motorcycle was nowhere in sight, which Riku couldn’t help but be thankful for considering their last meeting, but his hair still stuck out in odd ends like he’d just taken the helmet off.

“So,” Sora started, and then stopped again, scratching the back of his head and not meeting Riku’s eyes like he had just confessed to skinny-dipping in Riku’s pool or something.

“So?” Riku prompted.

The brunet glanced at him and away again, apparently finding the Cracker Barrel building highly interesting. “So. Um. About the other night.”

“Yeah?” Usually, the hesitant conversation would have gotten on Riku’s nerves. As it was, Sora’s lips formed a cute little ‘o’ every time he stalled with another “so,” and Riku decided that Sora could stall all he wanted.

“With, um, Rox.”

Stupid blonds mess everything up, Riku thought inwardly, his heart sinking a little bit. “Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Riku looked at the ground, sliding his hands into the uncomfortably tight pockets of Axel’s jeans. “He, uh, said it was from you.”

Sora blushed a little bit, looking at the sky and therefore away from Riku, and the only reason Riku caught it was because he was looking up through his too-shaggy-to-look-professional bangs. “It was supposed to be a joke… I didn’t think he’d actually, like, do it…”

That made Riku’s heart sink a little bit more. It was probably to his thigh right about now. “Oh.”

“Yeah. So.”

Riku missed that cute little ‘o,’ looking at the pavement instead. “So.”

“…Hey, Riku?”

He looked up at the brunet, who pulled his tan arms behind his back and rocked back on his heels a little. His eyes wouldn’t meet Riku’s, but there was a small smile on his lips, where the sun still shone, and Riku couldn’t help but smile back. Then, Sora took a step forward, then another, closing the little-more-than-a-foot between them, and Riku may have stopped breathing then, may have stopped living altogether, because Sora was close enough that he could smell generic shampoo and the inside of a motorcycle helmet, and that was too good to be real. Suddenly, there were spikes brushing his nose as Sora looked up, blue eyes catching sea-foam green for a split second before closing, eyelids covering the sky like storm clouds.

And then it was roaring winds and crashing thunder and lightning in his head, behind his eyes, because Sora was kissing him, and it wasn’t blue skies and summer rain like Riku had imagined. No, it was a raging storm, a hurricane that left them both a little desperate, but he couldn’t help but want to seek the thrill of running into the center of it all, to where the thunderbolts crashed and crackled and prickled his skin and the angels sang in a chorus to back the sound of God’s fury, to the eye of the storm.

Too soon, the sky cleared, the clouds moving away, and the storm reached its calm. Riku opened his eyes slowly and met guilty blue looking up at him.

“I’m sorry, Riku.”

The handcuffs closed around his wrists with a loud, metallic click.

Blue eyes looked away, to the side, where Roxas was wrestling with Axel on the ground, apparently having much more trouble getting the cuffs on than Sora had. He looked back at Riku, but still refused to look him in the eye. “I didn’t want to, but we need the three of you to come kind of quietly and… it was all Rox’s idea.” Of course it was. Roxas, who got a kick out of knocking him out and kissing him.

Riku had to hand it to Sora; he was really good at looking miserable.

Riku looked away from him, jaw set, and leaned against whatever car was behind him. The brunet sighed, scratching the back of his head again and kicking at a rock, looking up only when Roxas let out a sound of triumph from his place straddling Axel’s back. Axel looked like he was in a mix of heaven and hell. “…You’ll thank us for it later,” Sora finally said, but it sounded more like he was trying to convince himself than Riku, and opened the door to the backseat for the detective.

Riku didn’t bother replying as he got in.

 

By the time they were on the road again, Roxas and Kairi were both seething at each other, the former covered in blueberry pancake stains and the latter being the one who threw them. Riku was much more quiet in his anger, refusing to meet blue eyes in the rearview mirror as they kept glancing back at him, instead choosing to look past Kairi and out the window at the rapidly passing farmland. Axel had discovered his new favorite pastime: hitting on Roxas. Roxas had also discovered his new favorite pastime: flipping off Axel. It was an odd example of cause-and-effect.

But by the time they were three hours away from Springfield, Axel had run out of pick-up lines and Roxas’ middle finger was getting tired.

“Hey, Roxy?”

“Don’t call me that,” Roxas replied, eyes narrowing and jaw clenching. “It sounds like a girl’s name.”

Axel grinned and ignored the request. “I have a question.”

“If it involves what I do on my Saturday nights and those handcuffs, I’ll rip your spleen out with my bare hands.”

“It doesn’t, and blood stains are a bitch to get out, so you wouldn’t really,” Axel responded, but silently added _that_ question to his list. “See, I’m curious. What’s so special about that disc?”

Sora glanced at Roxas, who started slightly, having not expected the question. A silent conversation seemed to pass between the two, thoroughly confusing the occupants of the backseat. Finally, Sora cleared his throat and shifted his other hand to the wheel of the Firebird.

“Sorry,” Roxas said, though he didn’t really sound sorry at all, “but we can’t tell you.”

“Can you show me?”

“No.”

“How about singing it for me?”

The corner of Roxas’ mouth quirked into what could have been a smile, if Riku had believed it possible for Roxas to _smile_ at Axel. “No. I can’t give you any information about it at all.”

Axel nodded, thinking for a moment. “But it involves the Organization, right?”

Again, Roxas glanced at Sora, something passing between them. Finally, Roxas turned away, to the window again. “Yeah,” he said, “it does.”

“How?” Axel pressed.

“Can’t tell you that either.”

“Here’s one,” Kairi piped up. “Why don’t you exist?”

Roxas gave her an amused smirk and even Sora’s gloomy mood lifted a little. “Glad to see you did your homework,” the blond said, “but I’m afraid that’s classified, too.”

“Another one, then,” the secretary continued. “Where’s your sister?”

This wiped the smile clean off of Roxas’ face and Sora’s storm cloud returned to rain and thunder and lightning all over the front seat. Neither brother replied for a moment, and silence reigned until Roxas finally said, “We have a general idea.” He refused to elaborate or answer anything else after that, no matter how many times Kairi kicked the seat.

When they were about thirty minutes from Springfield, Sora pulled off of the interstate into a small interstate town, keeping his silence despite Axel and Kairi’s persistent questioning. Finally, he relented with some information, but definitely not the kind the detectives were after.

“Alright, here’s the thing,” the brunet said. “Me ‘n Rox have got a lot of stuff that we have to take care of, a lot of dangerous stuff, so we’re taking you to a safe place.”

“You’re kidnapping us for our own good?” Axel asked, grinning. “Aw, Blondie, you care!”

“Don’t call me that either and I do _not_ care.”

“Wait,” Kairi said, looking an odd mix between worried and royally pissed off. “You can’t just make us disappear like that! Somebody’s going to notice, you know. I’ve got a boyfr-”

Roxas turned and smirked at her, holding up a file folder from his black backpack. “We did our homework too, _Little Red_ ,” he said, and she tensed at the nickname, mouth falling open slightly, “and you are currently single, living by yourself on Maple Street. No pets. All elderly neighbors. One job. Fifteen grand on your head by midnight tonight.” He turned around again, facing to the front as Kairi glared at him in shock from behind. “Besides,” he went on, “if they can’t find you, they can’t kill you, remember? So shut up and let us take care of this so you can go back to annoying the crap out of everyone else.”

Kairi was silent, though Riku was sure it was from shock and not because Roxas had told her to be.

“What about my cat?” Riku asked, glancing up and looking away again before blue eyes shot up to the rearview mirror, because he knew as soon as he saw them, he wouldn’t have it in him to be mad anymore. Roxas looked back as well, only a glance, but Riku wasn’t afraid to meet _his_ blue eyes… They’d probably just piss him off even more.

“Don’t worry about it,” was all the blond said before he turned back to the road, scanning the houses they passed.

“I’d like to add that I am against this in principle,” Axel said, “but I am willing to put up with it if you’ll be staying with me, Rox,” he finished with a sort of coo that made Roxas look back in what was most likely disgust, his expression similar to the ones that Riku and Kairi wore.

“We won’t be.” The car slowed as Sora pulled into a parking lot behind an apartment building. “We’ll be, yunno, taking care of this.”

“Then I am completely against this and even you shoving your hand down my pants again won’t change my mind.”

It was a good thing that Sora had parked halfway through Axel’s statement because he would have wrecked the car otherwise, and that would have been a really bad, albeit unexpected, end to the whole thing. Riku and Kairi simply stared at Roxas in shock, and the blond looked as though he would have rather liked to beat Axel about the spiky head and sharp shoulders (like the redheaded stepchild that he was) and taken a jump off of a tall building.

“You _what?!_ ” Sora finally asked, mouth hanging open in disbelief.

“He wouldn’t stay _still!_ ” shouted Roxas in a poor attempt to defend himself. “He kept wiggling and groping me! It was the only thing I could think of!”

“And while I am glad that you thought of it, sweetheart, it won’t work a second time.”

Roxas’ head dropped into his hands. “Shut _up_! And don’t call me sweetheart!”

“Sweet Jesus,” Kairi muttered. “It’s the Apocalypse.”

Riku was rather inclined to agree with her.

“Okay, you know what? Get the fuck out of the car.” Roxas unbuckled his seat belt like it was burning him. “Get out, get out, all of you out. Axel, go stand in front of it and don’t you _dare_ dodge.”

“Sorry, baby,” Axel said as Roxas flung open his car door. “Riku and Sora already have that corner covered. You’ll have to think of some other way to get me unconscious and vulnerable.”

“I was not unconscious and vulnerable!” The detective defended himself, his foot connecting with Axel’s shin and earning a hiss from the redhead.

“It was not on purpose!” Sora exclaimed, his head meeting the steering wheel.

“Are you all done?”

They all froze and looked out Kairi’s door, which no one but she had realized was open, and at the current object of the secretary’s enraptured gaze. At that moment, Riku learned something about Kairi that he had never wanted to know. Kairi seemed to have a thing for leather pants.

“Yes,” Roxas said too quickly, stepping out of the car and slamming the door behind him. “We are _done_.”

Axel probably replied with something cheesy like, “We’re just getting started,” but Riku tuned him out and instead scrutinized this new arrival, the man currently helping Kairi out of the car. Riku personally thought that the tall brunet looked rather cocky, the way he was wearing an I-don’t-give-a-rat’s-ass expression and those leather pants. In Riku’s opinion, his hand lingered a little bit too long on Kairi’s wrists when he undid the cuffs, and a flare of protective anger shot through him, settling in his chest.

It was nothing compared to the blaze that rippled through him when Sora walked up and gave the man a hug.

“Leon! It’s good to see you!” the motorcyclist exclaimed, all smiles again, much to Riku’s dismay.

“Hey.” Axel leaned over and nudged Riku with his shoulder, his hands still bound. “Down, boy. Quit growling.”

“Shut up.” Riku scowled, and would have probably replied with something witty and scathing, had Sora not then turned to him with a semi-hopeful expression on his face. The detective caught one glimpse of wide blue eyes, and he knew he was done for and ready to be served with dressing on the side as the angry fire within him cooled.

“So…”

Here we go again, Riku thought, and sighed inwardly, giving up. “I’m not going anywhere,” he said, mustering up a half-smile to chase away the little clouds that still threatened Sora’s sky. “So you can let me go.”

Sora’s smile was so bright that you could probably see it from space, and he quickly unlocked the handcuffs. Riku absently rubbed his wrists as he followed the brunet into the apartment building, not really paying attention to what he was saying and instead focusing on his surroundings, still looking for a way out of this predicament.

They hit the top floor, the elevator strangely silent even though the halls had been filled with Sora’s babbling, Kairi’s protests, Roxas’ indignant shouts and threats, and Axel’s insistence that his hand had a mind of its own. He heard Kairi breathe, “Penthouse…!” beside him and rolled his eyes, glancing across the elevator at Leon. To his surprise, the brunet had what could have been an amused smile on his face, though Riku couldn’t have been sure without a magnifying glass.

“Leon’s my half-brother,” Sora was saying when Riku looked away from the brunet in question. “He’s quiet, but he’s a good guy, so…” He trailed off, but it was clear that a glance toward Axel and Kairi meant that he wanted them to behave.

Riku wasn’t making any promises.

“Do you take after your mother?” he asked instead as they walked down the hall. Sora looked up at him, surprise evident on his features… Riku found it amusing that he portrayed emotions so comically, like he was a walking cartoon character. Riku himself hadn’t been that animated in a long time.

“Yeah, I do!” Sora replied. “Are you, like, psychic?”

It was tempting to let him wonder instead of letting on that Naminé had been the informant. Too tempting, it proved. “Maybe,” the detective said. “Maybe not.”

Leon unlocked the door to the penthouse before Sora could reply, and they filed into the spacious living room. Kairi was looking around, her excitement levels dropping a smidgen as she realized that everything was not, in fact, gold-plated.

“You know, for a prison,” Axel said from his place behind Roxas (the best possible view, in his honest opinion), “it ain’t half-bad.”

“Isn’t,” the blond corrected. “And it’s not a prison. It’s a safe house.”

“I wasn’t aware safe houses had wardens,” Kairi said, looking at Leon, as she had for the last ten minutes.

“He’s more of a guardian,” Roxas replied.

“Oh, really?” Axel pasted on an interested look. “Hey, Leo, heart of a lion and all that jazz?”

“It’s Squall,” Sora corrected him.

“It’s _Leon_ ,” Leon corrected them both. “Guest rooms need made up.”

Unsurprisingly, Kairi immediately volunteered. Roxas did as well, and Axel followed him like a puppy. Sora sat down on the single couch in the large living room, and Riku took it as a cue that his help wasn’t needed. Of course, he didn’t actually plan to be here by the time they’d even need the guest room, so he didn’t actually care. He sat down beside Sora, spacing himself so he wasn’t _too_ close, but so that he wasn’t all the way across the couch, putting much more thought into that single seating arrangement than he did into his usual cases of lost pets and missing cars.

“No,” Sora suddenly said out of the blue.

Riku looked over at him. “…No what?”

“You’re not psychic,” the brunet replied in a decided tone, and Riku was slightly worried that he had actually put thought into it. “If you were, you’d have seen my bike coming.”

“Well, maybe I did and I let you hit me anyway.”

Sora grinned. “So are you a suicidal psychic then?”

Riku smirked. It was wide open. He couldn’t help himself. “Maybe I saw that you were going to kiss me and thought the Strawberry Shortcake band-aids were worth it.”

If any annoyance had been left, it was quickly washed away by the blush on Sora’s cheeks and the way he looked away like he was _cool_ , damn it. “Yeah, I’m, um, sorry about that…” he murmured. He quickly looked up then, worried. “Not that I, like, regret it or anything! ‘Cause I totally _wanted_ to kiss you anyway, so it was kind of a plus that I got to do it while I was putting you in handcuffs… No, wait, that came out wrong!” He closed his eyes and covered his face with his hands. “Oh my God.”

Riku couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped him, no matter how awesome he was managing to reduce Sora to a babbling, adorable, blushing mess of spikes. “I think I get it,” he said.

A blue eye peeked out from between motorcycle-gloved fingers. “Really?”

Riku nodded, throwing an arm over the back of the couch. Ha, now he looked as awesome as he felt. “Mmhmm. You ran me over so that you could kiss me and put me in handcuffs.” Sora groaned and threw his head back against the couch, one arm tossed over his face. To Riku’s joy, his head landed right on Riku’s arm. And _stayed_ there. He tried not to let the part of him that cheering sound in his voice when he asked, “Speaking of your bike, where is it?”

Sora’s face took on a strange expression. His jaw clenched, eyes narrowing, and Riku got to experience his first taste of Sora angry. The detective was thankful that it wasn’t directed at him.

“ _Larxene!_ ” the brunet spat, as though the name were a curse word (and in Riku’s book, it was.). He didn’t give any more detail than that, and that single name was enough. The bike was dead and gone by now.

He was about to make the mood lighter, was thinking of something to say to bring back that sunny smile, when Roxas stomped back into the room. Axel followed, sporting a grin and an angry red mark across his face.

“We’re leaving,” Roxas informed Sora through gritted teeth.

“Rox slapped me like a girl,” Axel informed Riku with a grin.

“We’re _leaving!_ ” the blond reiterated, and Sora heaved himself up off the couch with a sigh. Riku followed suit, and for a moment, no one said or did anything else but watch each other.

Sora cleared his throat. “Well, um, we’re leaving the Firebird. It’s too flashy to, yunno, hide or anything.”

Riku caught Axel’s eye and smirked, a clear _I told you so._ Axel just rolled his eyes and returned his attention to Roxas, who was pointedly _not_ giving Axel any attention whatsoever.

“What are you going to do about a ride then?” the redhead asked. “You can’t walk all the way to… wherever the hell it is you’re going.”

“Well,” Sora replied with a grin that clearly said he was going to enjoy obtaining a ride. “We’re probably going to steal one.”

And then Riku remembered. Remembered that Sora was actually running from the law, remembered that Sora was mixed up in some kind of gang-affiliated mess, remembered that Sora had a whole lot of secrets that might put him away for a few years. It was ice water to his face, waking him up and forcing him to see with stark clarity.

Sora was his assignment. Not his boyfriend.

“Steal one?” Axel was asking when he shook his head to get rid of the mental-ice water he had been doused in. “As in, grand theft auto?”

“I believe that’s what they call it, yes. We’re leaving,” Roxas said again, as though to remind Sora that they were wasting time. Wasting time, yes, that’s what it was. Riku had been wasting valuable info-getting time while he was trying to kiss Sora. Sora, who was his _case_ , not Sora, who hit him with a motorcycle. Riku’s brain was having a hard time separating the two.

“Aw.” Axel gave a mock frown and stepped forward, toward Roxas, with his arms spread wide. Roxas stepped back, away from Axel, glaring at him in a way that would have made lesser men shrivel up and fall over dead on the spot. Axel just smiled at him. “I’m gonna miss you, baby.”

“Do _not_ call me ‘baby,’” Roxas growled. “And I’m _not_ going to miss _you_.”

Sora laughed lightly beside Riku. “Rox likes him,” he informed Riku quietly. “You can tell by the way Axel’s still, like, breathing and isn’t in the hospital. Rox just doesn’t know it yet.”

Riku glanced over at him, out of the corner of his eye, but Sora was smiling, and he couldn’t tell which Sora it was when he smiled. “Really.”

Sora nodded again, turning to Riku fully, and his smile faded a kilowatt. “So.”

Oh, for the love of… “So?”

“I guess this is, you know… Goodbye.” Riku couldn’t help but feel a little bit… _happy_ when Sora looked slightly more depressed as he spoke, and that couldn’t be healthy, right, or politically correct in any way.

“Guess so,” the detective replied, because telling Sora that he planned to break out at the next opportunity probably wouldn’t go over too well.

Sora glanced away, and Riku knew what was about to happen, because it was all going to be straight out of the last Lifetime movie he’d watched. Sora would look back at him, and lean forward for a kiss, and then walk out the door and seemingly completely out of Riku’s life, in an effort to keep him safe. Never mind that Riku was supposed to be bringing him back to St. Louis, probably in handcuffs. He couldn’t tell right now if this was Sora, the manila folder on his desk, or Sora, the future high school history teacher. And it was for this reason that, when Sora leaned forward for the kiss, he leaned away.

“Goodbye, Sora,” he said.

Sora stared at him for a minute, and there was no sunshine at all, because the grey clouds were already beginning to form, and there was probably one hell of a storm on its way. “…Bye,” he said. And then, like the script called for, he walked out the door. Riku didn’t watch him go.

 

That night, it rained. It wasn’t unexpected, despite the lack of warning, because this was _Missouri_ after all, and Missouri tended to change its mind like a woman with severe PMS. Riku sighed and watched the rain splash against the window of his room, watched how the lightning crashed and illuminated the parking lot, where one blue Toyota was inexplicably missing. He hated the sight of rain on concrete. Hated the sound of it. As Kairi had once said, the rain tended to bring the memories down from the sky with it, like a fitting retribution.

The door opened quietly, and Riku glanced behind him at the nightgown-clad figure who softly padded her way across the carpet to where he was seated on the edge of the bed. She sat down beside him and followed his gaze out the window, to the rain and the thunder.

“You should be in bed,” he said to her. “It was a long day.” She nodded, but didn’t say anything, didn’t move, just leaned back a little. “Go to bed, Kairi,” he tried again, a little bit softer this time, because he understood why the rain was keeping her awake and understood why she was silent even though she’d screamed when it rained once upon a time, but couldn’t she at least _try?_

If she gave up, he was fucked.

“I can’t sleep,” she finally said, quietly against the loud anger of the storm. “Do we still have the sleeping pills in the bag?”

He nodded, pointing to where the duffel bag rested on the floor near the bed. She looked at it, but didn’t move, her arms wrapped around herself. It could have been an attempt to keep herself warm. Riku knew it was an attempt to keep herself together. He sighed and relented, pulling her to him where she could rest her head on his shoulder and he could keep her from falling to pieces before his eyes again. He couldn’t handle watching her break down again, like she had watched him. She was stronger than him like that.

“It’s all happening again,” she whispered, and he wondered why she hadn’t gone to Axel for a brief second before remembering that Axel hadn’t been in the rain with them, hadn’t watched blond meet concrete with a sickening thud.

“No,” he replied. “It’s different this time.” People couldn’t die twice, after all.

Kairi nodded and let out a shaky breath, beginning to patch up the little cracks that had begun to show through her strength. “You’re right,” she said, and repeated it, her voice stronger the second time. A few minutes later, she pulled away from him and stood, walking over to the bag, her head held high but her hands shaky as she gripped the bottle of over-the-counter sleep aid. “Axel, he…” she paused, and he knew. Axel wouldn’t understand this time. It was okay.

She closed the curtains before she left, but Riku could still hear the rain.


	8. Another One Bites the Dust

The storm was still raging outside a day later, on Friday. They couldn’t really tell when nighttime came around, other than the yellow numbers on the cable box above the TV, with all of the curtains closed and thunder booming through the house at regular intervals. There had been a few quiet spells throughout the past twenty-four-or-so hours, where the thunder had ceased for a while, and the rain had tip-tapped a rhythm that managed to lull them into sleep for a few hours at a time. But it never lasted, and that was how Riku found himself wandering the rooms of Leon’s penthouse apartment at three in the morning.

He almost wished that Axel were awake. Almost. But Axel was currently throwing a hissy fit over being stuck in Leon’s apartment, torn between worshipping the man who had caught them all three times they had attempted escape, once in his birthday suit, and killing him for foiling said escape plans time and time and time again. As it was, he wasn’t exactly pleasant to be in the company of at the moment, so Riku decided to let the redhead sleep, and instead lightly tapped on the door to Kairi’s room. A muffled call to enter sounded, so he quietly opened the door, and found her curled up on her bed, Leon’s laptop resting on her legs and bathing the room in the machine-blue light of the computer screen. She looked up as the door opened and gave a weak smile, brushing a stray strand of hair that had fallen out of her clip behind her ear. It struck him at first, seeing her hair up, because in the dark and gloom, he couldn’t really see how short it was now, and briefly pictured her with her hair tied back, long and curled and red like blood, spread out on the black pavement.

“Yeah?” Her voice was quiet, her gaze just a little darker than usual, and in the dim lighting, it was almost like he was back in the apartment in the projects of St. Louis.

“Just a question,” he said, shaking his head to clear the mental images. He needed sleep, he told himself. That was all.

“Ask,” she said curtly. She needed sleep too, it seemed.

He leaned on the desk, watching her face in the glow of the computer’s screen as she pulled up whatever she had been working on. “What did you mean about Naminé Martel?”

“You mean asking where she was?” She glanced away from the computer and up at him. “She’s gone. The phone’s been disconnected, the apartment cleared out, and it’s like she never existed at all. She was even wiped from the licensing databases.” She gave a little sigh, as though she regretted Naminé Martel vanishing into thin air. “The thing that gets me, though, is that Sora and Roxas don’t know where she is either.”

“They said they had a general idea.”

“They have the same general ideas that I do.”

“And those would be?” Riku asked.

Kairi sighed again, but it was a tired sigh this time, one that didn’t mean anything bad. Just that she was tired. They were all a little tired, Riku thought, but maybe the rain was making him think a little too much. “The Organization,” she replied. “It all has to do with the Organization, somehow or another. And we don’t know exactly where the Organization is, do we?”

Riku shook his head. “Not anymore anyway,” he said, standing up fully. “Don’t forget the pills,” he added, a little more quietly, and patted her shoulder.

She shook her head, however. “Not tonight. Tonight, I’m working.” She gestured toward the computer screen. “I need to research and liberate some information before… well, you know.”

So she felt it too, that little ball of dread in her chest, like something was going to happen and she was going to need all the information she could get before it did. Riku had felt it all day, flipping open and closed Axel’s Memo pad, glancing at his cell phone on occasion, going through Sora’s near-empty file again. Briefly, he wondered if Axel could feel the tension in the air, that sinister cloud hanging over them, if they were all so unified and connected that his dreams were being filled with visions of dark warehouses and silent phone calls, the sound of gunshots and laughter and his mind screaming prayers to not be too late.

“Riku?”

He started at the sound of Kairi’s voice. His gaze shot up, to where her soft, tired face was washed in the blue light of the computer screen, tinged with concern. “Are you okay?” she asked.

Riku nodded, muttered a reply that he didn’t even think about, and decided that he had better go ahead and get some sleep if he wanted to be any use at all the following day.

 

Saturday dawned grey and rainy, of course, because this was Missouri, and when it rained, it rained for days. Riku watched the dawn come with a lightening of the clouds, wondering if he’d get to see just a tiny peek of the sun and pretty sure all he would get was rain. There was no thunder, no lightning, and it seemed almost peaceful, with the rain on his window behind his drawn curtains and the relative quiet of the apartment. Yet he couldn’t sleep that night, though he tried, tossing and turning, with the feeling steadily growing within him that the calm wouldn’t last. If Missouri could have hurricanes, this would be the eye of the storm.

The first rumble of thunder sounded sometime late into the night, into the early single-digits. Riku sighed and rolled out of bed, knowing that the small amount of shut-eye he had gotten would either have to be helped along by medication or last him through the storm. A quick shake of the pill bottle gave him his answer, and he hoped that the storm wouldn’t knock out the power and give him late-night monster movies, at least. He found Kairi on the couch, curled up in a blanket with her head resting in Axel’s lap, the pair apparently enjoying some romantic comedy, and Riku figured that he probably wouldn’t get his monster movie either.

“Hey,” the two redheads greeted in unison as he sat down on the couch near Kairi’s feet.

“Hey,” he replied. “What’re you watching?” he asked, mostly to break the silence, because he could already see Julia Roberts singing Prince’s “Kiss” in the bathtub on the screen.

“ _Pretty Woman_ ,” Axel said, looking as though he would have liked to be watching monster movies as well. Unfortunately, Kairi had the remote buried beneath the blanket with her, no doubt clenched protectively in her recently-painted and filed nails.

“Ah.” Riku sat back, resigning himself to Richard Gere and hoping that the movie would eventually allow him to fall asleep. Axel was probably hoping that the movie would lull Kairi to sleep, therefore freeing up the remote for _Godzilla_ or something _not_ romance-related. Honestly, Kairi was probably hoping for the same thing.

Therefore, of course, the storm just _had_ to cut the movie off, and it became apparent that whatever ran the world enjoyed messing with Riku’s life.

With the light from the TV gone, the room was doused in darkness, and it took the three of them a minute to process the sudden lack of modern technology with their drowsy brains. Finally, Kairi sat up, taking her blanket with her and leaving Riku’s legs victims to the cold air at about the same time that they heard Leon come down the hallway. There was the sound of him digging through the kitchen, and then they could suddenly see again.

“I thought you were asleep,” Kairi said, taking the flashlight the brunet handed her.

“I was working,” Leon replied, handing a second flashlight to Axel and keeping the third for himself. He looked a little annoyed, if Riku were to guess that the _tiny_ little wrinkle between his eyes meant something close to an expression.

“Kinda late, isn’t it?” Axel asked. He flipped on his flashlight and held it under his face, widening his eyes and flashing Kairi a spooky grin. She scowled at him and aimed her own flashlight right into his eyes, making him wince and blink away from her.

Leon watched the exchange with that strange quirk of the mouth again. “I could ask you the same,” he pointed out, leaning against a wall.

“We’re all horrible insomniacs,” Kairi said.

“Excuse me?” Axel looked at her, waving his flashlight. “ _I_ happened to be fast asleep when _you_ shook me awake. _Axel!_ ” he mimicked in a high, squeaky voice that was probably supposed to be Kairi, but managed to sound more like a neutered clown. “ _Richard Gere’s on TV!_ I was thinking _An Officer and a Gentlemen_ or at least _Shall We Dance_ , but no, it’s _Pretty Woman_ of all things.”

“Hey!” Kairi shined her flashlight in his eyes again. “You weren’t complaining when you were muttering the lines under your breath.”

“Shut up and let me have some shred of masculinity left, will you?”

Riku rolled his eyes and the rest of the argument was drowned out by another clap of thunder, lightning illuminating the room in sudden daylight. Immediately after, his phone started dancing in circles to “Wipe Out” on the coffee table where he’d left it earlier, as though the thunder had been a harbinger of what couldn’t be good news. He stared at the table in shock, along with Axel and Kairi, whose eyes had gone wide with disbelief and horror.

“…Answer it!” Axel hissed and Riku made a grab for it as it started on the second loop, flipping it open with shaky hands and holding it to his ear.

The caller didn’t even give him a chance to speak. “They’re close,” he said, his usually light voice weighted down by a lack of time and imminent danger. “Get her out of there.”

It took him a minute to think of a response beyond _shitdamnfuckno_! “She’s safe,” he finally said, but even as he said the words, his heart was sinking to the floor and bile was rising into his throat.

“No, she’s not. You don’t have long. Keep her safe.”

There was a click as the other hung up, and it was a wonder that he’d been able to call at all, Riku realized. If they were as close as he was now sure they were, he should have been surrounded constantly, it should have been too risky. Briefly, he wondered morbidly if the other’s slit throat would prevent another warning like that.

“Go,” he said, keeping his voice low and urgent, because Kairi was visibly shaken, staring at the phone in his hand as though she had just seen a ghost. “Pack what you can, they’re coming.”

He moved to walk past them as Axel and Leon jumped into motion, vanishing down the hall and into their rooms. Kairi caught his arm as he moved past her and he paused, taking a moment to gently pull her to his shoulder and rest a chin on her soft red hair, hoping to quell the shaking that seemed to have overtaken her.

“That…” Her voice cracked and she swallowed. He felt her close her eyes against his shoulder and take a shaky breath. “Was that…” She couldn’t even finish the question.

“Yeah,” he replied. “He’s still got a debt to repay, remember.”

Kairi nodded against him a moment later, pulling away and dragging a hand across her eyes as she walked briskly down the hallway to her room. He heard the door close a moment later as he stepped into his own. Urgency set in then, and he found himself grabbing only at the things he would need, pulling on a pair of jeans and shoving his wallet, cell phone, and keys to a pile of charred upholstery and blackened metal into his pockets. He grabbed one of Kairi’s old ponytail holders out of the bag and pulled his hair back; girly but useful in situations where he didn’t want it to be in his eyes while he was running for his life. He’d learned that lesson quite a few times in the past. Finally, he pulled his belt on, clipping his empty gun holster, badge, and handcuffs to it, having found them all useful to have in a tight situation.

He emerged a few minutes later, nearly crashing into Leon. He stumbled and the older man caught him, steadied him, and handed him a handgun. “Got a plan yet?” he asked, his tone not much different than it would have been had he been discussing the weather.

“I’m working on it,” Riku answered, shoving the gun into his holster. “Got one for me?”

“They’re in Chicago.” This time, Leon handed him a black bag with a strap for the shoulder. “Flight leaves at five-thirty. Get this bag to Sora. It’s waterproof and reinforced, and there’s a credit card for the plane ticket, as well as some other things you may need. Take the Wrangler,” he added, handing him a set of keys. “I’ll confuse them with the Firebird.”

Riku nodded, mentally making a note that that was the most he had heard out of Leon in the total of roughly thirty or so hours that he had been there. “Thanks,” he said. “Will you be alright?”

Leon gave him that strange little not-smile again, and this time it was smug. With that, he turned down the hallway and vanished into his room again.

The detective shook his head briefly before speed-walking into the living room to grab his shoes from beside the door. Kairi was already there waiting for him, dressed in a pair of jeans and a windbreaker, her red hair pulled back into a small ponytail, apparently having though on the same wavelength as Riku. Her shoes were already on her feet, but she was staring out the window with something akin to dismayed horror on her face.

“They’re here,” she said, turning to him, and the look on her face was nothing but raw fear.

He looked past her, down at the parking lot, and the first thing he saw in the flash of lightning was a shock of bright pink and the gaudy silver uniforms of the Organization lackeys. “Okay, that changes things a little,” he said soothingly, mentally wondering how the hell they were supposed to escape now. “He wasn’t kidding when he said we didn’t have long.”

He pulled her away from the window as Leon and Axel came into view again, the former wearing that strange half-jacket again and the latter holding two guns: his own and Kairi’s Ladysmith from her purse.

“We can’t take the front door,” Riku informed them.

“You can’t,” Leon said. “I can. Figure another way out. I won’t be able to draw them off for long.”

It wasn’t very helpful advice, but Riku realized that it was really the only thing Leon could do, as though putting yourself as the first line of defense was a small feat.

“How much time?” Axel asked, sliding a hand through Kairi’s hair and digging through the pockets of his jacket, mindlessly digging for a pack of cigarettes that wasn’t there.

“Not enough,” Riku replied. “Come on.” He turned down the hallway, throwing open the doors to the room and searching for anything that could help them now, a laundry chute, something. He heard the front door open and close and tried to put off the thought that Leon had just left them to meet what would probably be a bullet-riddled death in the hallways of the apartment building.

He almost closed his eyes when he heard the first gunshots and muffled shouts, but that would mean losing time and possibly missing something. Kairi looked back towards the living room briefly, face twisted, but Axel pulled her along as they blindly ran down the hall.

“Oh God!” he heard her say in what was probably a shriek if the blood hadn’t been pounding at his ears, much like hands were pounding at the front door now. He took the second to glance back at her, to see the blood drained from her face and the way that Axel was holding her up, telling her to get up and run, princess, she could do it. And then he saw it.

He pushed his way past them, backtracking and bounding off and over the bed to the window, where another flash of lightning illuminated the wet fire escape.

“Fourteen stories on a wet fire escape?” Axel asked, and Riku could tell that he thought he was out of his mind.

“It’s the best chance we’ve got,” Riku replied. He gripped the edge of the window, trying to pull it up and trying to ignore the sounds of the locks breaking on the front door.

Axel released Kairi to help him. “I can dig it,” he said, gritting his teeth and pulling, praying the window would magically unstuck itself, but it seemed hopeless a few moments later and it still wouldn’t budge. Riku and Axel swore in unison.

“Move,” Kairi said from behind them, and Riku glanced over before quickly taking a step or two back as she heaved the desk chair with every ounce of strength that she had, which was a considerable amount thanks to self-defense classes and the fear-driven adrenaline rush. The window shattered and the noises at the door paused for only a second before he heard someone shout.

“Good job, princess,” Axel said, reaching over to help her through the broken window. She landed on her feet on the fire escape below, the broken glass crunching beneath her Nikes. “Go,” he said to Riku, pulling the gun out of his waistband at the same time they heard the door slam open. Riku didn’t waste any time, knowing that Axel was a crack shot and had the best chance of any of them under this kind of pressure. He caught the edge of the broken window with his arm on his way out, hissing and losing his balance as a result, just barely catching himself on the fire escape below. He scrambled up, repositioning the bag over his shoulder and ignoring the way his hands stung with shards of broken glass. Gunshots rang out and he hit the ground again, this time taking Kairi with him, and they just barely avoided Axel crashing through what was left of the window and hitting the landing rolling.

“ _Go_ , damn it!” the redhead shouted.

Riku dropped the first ladder and Kairi took the rungs two at a time. He slid down as Kairi was dropping the second, and Axel came toppling off of the first landing.

“Forget the ladders!” he said, and it was a miracle that Riku heard him over the thunder and gunshots chipping into the metal nearby. “Jump!”

Riku did, immediately, landing on the next rusted and wet platform, just as the next hail of bullet ricocheted off of the metal beside him. Kairi landed with a pained grunt nearby and he pulled her to his feet as Axel followed. They jumped together this time, Axel barely behind them. Four down, ten to go.

The metal was slippery, the rain coming down harder by the time they had hit the fourth floor, literally, on hands and knees and, in Kairi’s case, on top of Riku. “Sorry!” she said breathlessly before bounding up to jump again for the fourth floor. Riku realized that gunshots could be heard from below too, but they weren’t being aimed at him, and he barely caught sight of Leon sprinting across the grass in the flash of lightning toward the parking lot, a familiar pink shock following him closely.

“Marluxia,” Axel growled. “Jump!”

Kairi jumped first, landing on the second-floor landing and stumbling, nearly falling to the ground far below and causing Riku’s heart to seize in his chest. Axel followed, slipping as well, looking to pitch over the railing, and it was a miracle that Kairi’s hand shot out to clamp around his arm in time. Riku readied himself on the railing of the third story as another bullet ricocheted off the metal pretty damn close to his hand, and he found himself thanking the heavens that Lexaeus had always been a poor shot.

Larxene, on the other hand, hadn’t.

The bullet only grazed him, barely brushed his cheek, but it stung like a bitch. Before he could stop himself, his hand had flown up to the wound, throwing off his balance. He toppled from the third-floor railing, missed Axel’s outstretched hand, though he grasped for it. He closed his eyes and shifted his weight, moving to hit the ground feet-first in the split-second it took for flesh to meet earth.

He hit the ground, buckled his knees, and rolled instinctively, seeing stars. The bag flew one way, landing in the mud, and he lay there as his world refocused and he determined that no, he wasn’t dead, but if he didn’t move now, he would be soon. He jumped up and stumbled as a shock of pain shot up his leg, cursing through gritted teeth as he forced himself to ignore the pain and walk it off, grabbing up the bag and making for the parking lot.

When the pavement was under his feet and the adrenaline had kicked in enough that the pain in his ankle was a dull throb, he found that he still had the keys to the Wrangler clutched in one hand, covered in blood from the cuts in his palm and leaving an imprint on his flesh. He hit the panic button as another bullet dinged off the trunk of the car beside him and another pierced through the window of a sedan in front of him. He threw himself into the driver’s seat and tossed the bag haphazardly into the back seat, scrunching himself down to make himself less of a target and turning the engine over. He threw it into gear just as Axel catapulted into the passenger’s seat and Kairi flung herself into the floorboard of the back. He pressed his foot to the pedal and the car shot back, colliding with something with a sickening crunch that made Riku swallow and wince, but he kept going, hoping that he hadn’t killed someone at least, threw the shift into drive and fucking _drove_.

The chase wasn’t over yet, though, and as soon as he had peeled out of the parking lot, Axel’s crimson Firebird zipped past them, a few of the Organization cars following and peppering the bumper and back of the sports car, meaning that the distraction tactic had apparently worked.

“Take I-44,” Axel said beside him, breathing harsh, and Riku barely heard him over the back window breaking and Kairi yelping in surprise. Axel loaded a new magazine into his gun, taking a moment to calm his breathing. “Hey, sweetheart, you okay?”

“Peachy,” came the reply. “Fuckin’ peachy.”

“Good. Don’t pass any semis, man.” And then Axel was hanging halfway out the window, firing back at the cars that were currently making his spare tire useless. He came back in a few moments later. “Took out the front tire. Take that exit!”

Riku muttered a prayer to whatever god would listen and shot across four lanes of early-morning traffic to zip up the exit ramp, hopefully losing their pursuers in the dangerous maneuver. When the Branson-Springfield National Airport was in view, Axel glanced back.

“We lost the bastards,” he said, relieve audible in his tone.

Kairi hoisted herself up into the backseat, brushing what had fallen out of her ponytail away from her face. Riku suddenly realized that his bangs were plastered to his head and they were all soaked to the bone with rain, mud, and… holy shit, _blood_.

“Riku!” Kairi yelped, darting forward to hover her hand above his cheek. “Oh my God.” She fell back into her seat, one hand covering part of her face and her eyes wide. “They shot you. _They shot you!_ ”

Axel twisted in her seat, cupping his hand around the back of her neck and forcing her head between her knees. “Relax,” he said, “breathe. He’s fine, it’s just a scratch.” He pulled his hand away carefully and she took a shaky breath, leaving her head where he had put it. “Where to?”

“Chicago,” Riku replied. “Assuming they let us on the plane like this.”

“We’ll have to ditch the guns,” Axel said, looking none-too-happy about the idea.

“And the shampoo,” Kairi added, her voice muffled and still shaky. “No more than three ounces.”

“If you’re done panicking, shove the stuff we can’t take under the seat,” Axel said as Riku pulled into a parking lot. Kairi began pulling their weapons and toiletries out of the duffle bag, still taking deep breaths.

Riku pulled his hands away from the wheel and found himself looking at bloody smudges. His hands were shaking from the potent mix of fear and adrenaline, and the cuts still hadn’t stopped bleeding, though it didn’t seem as though he had gotten any glass in them, which was fortunate. Kairi passed him a roll of bandages and he began wrapping his hands as Axel suddenly yanked the bag from her and began digging through it determinedly, his lighter in one hand.

“They’re not in there anymore,” Kairi told him quietly. “I took them out.”

Axel zipped the bag closed rather violently in response and handed it back to her. He wrenched open the door and stood in the rain, which seemed to have lessened considerably. Riku and Kairi followed him across the parking lot, listening for the sound of tires on wet pavement like the hoof beats of the Four Horsemen. They breathed a collective sigh of relief when they entered the building and were, for the moment, safe.

“Go clean up,” Kairi said, still looking shaken, but Riku supposed that anyone would, having been thrust into hell like they had. “You’ll scare the holy hell out of everyone here if you don’t,” she added with a semblance of her usual self, and Riku nodded, handing her the black bag and making his way towards the men’s bathroom.

In the mirror’s opinion, he looked like death warmed over. His eye was still healing, now a sickly yellow and purple splotch, and there was a blood drying on his face and neck, staining his, or Axel’s, white t-shirt a sickening reddish-brown. His hair was messy and splattered with mud and blood, falling out of its ponytail, and he tightened it, deciding that it was best if he were ready to run for his life again. His ankle was still throbbing, though it had apparently not been as bad as originally thought it was, because it certainly wasn’t broken and didn’t seem to protest his weight… well, not enough to keep him from running if he had to.

When his phone buzzed in his pocket, playing the same tune, he almost didn’t answer it, cold terror seeping through him as he thought of what he could hear. “She’s fine,” he said as he flipped it open.

“No, she’s scared,” the other replied. “But she’s alive, and she’s going to damn well stay that way, and that’s all that matters. Is she there?”

“No,” Riku said. “She’s busy.”

The voice hummed, sounding disappointed. “She wouldn’t want to talk to me anyway,” he said. “Put some Neosporin on that, man, and watch her back.”

“Yeah,” he agreed, glancing at his cheek in the mirror again.

“And, Riku?”

He hesitated before replying. “…What?”

The other either breathed in deep or sighed heavily; he couldn’t tell. “Tell her I said… well. You know. Still. Not that she’d want to hear it, but… tell her.”

“Yeah, okay,” Riku agreed. “Stay safe.”

“You too.” He closed the phone, looking around the empty bathroom and rubbing at his eyes wearily. Finally, he shook his head and pushed the door open, looking around for Kairi and Axel and finding them waiting for him on a bench not too far away.

Kairi was the first to see him, watching as he realized that his phone was still in his hand and slid it back into his pocket. “What did he say?” she asked, not hesitating this time, her gaze steady. “For me, I mean.” It was bold, assuming he had said anything for her at all, but hope was all she had at the moment.

Riku sighed, glancing at Axel, whose lighter was flickering on, off, on, off to the steady beat of footsteps nearby, the airport coming to life around them. “Stay safe. And he…” He paused then, looking at her. A beat, and then her eyes widened slightly as her breath caught. “Yeah. Still.”

There was a long moment before she replied. “…The counters open at four-thirty,” was what she said. “We’ll buy tickets then.” Her voice was steady but her hands were restless, coming up to brush her hair back again and straighten her clothes, a useless task.

Riku took a seat on the bench beside her and waited.


	9. Somebody's Watching Me

Riku was a firm believer in karma. He believed that good things came to those who waited – though he’d be much obliged if those good things would move their angelic little asses a bit faster – and that it all boomeranged right back to you in the end. He was a good person, in his opinion, but he knew what he was paying for now, and he could only hope he was going to get a discount in the end, because he wasn’t really willing to pay the full price for his sins. Apparently, though, that old lady he had helped across the street had been good for something other than beating the holy hell out of him with her huge bag and screaming rape, because while Kairi was digging for the credit card, some angelic light shone about her and his diminutive good karma kicked in. And it was about freaking time.

“Hallelujah!” Kairi said, yanking something from the bag and holding it up triumphantly. It shone in the light above her head, casting speckles and spots on the spotless tile floor and causing Riku to consider thinking himself insane, because there was no way in hell that she could be holding the CD.

Yes. _The_ CD.

“Excuse me,” the woman at the counter said. “But I need your credit card.”

Riku ignored her, deciding that Axel could take care of it. “No way. We are _not_ that lucky,” he said in disbelief, reaching for the disc in her hands. She passed it to him and he studied it, flipping it over. “It can’t be the one.”

“Oh, but there’s a good chance it _is_ ,” Kairi replied gleefully. “He slipped it in right next to the credit card-“

“Ma’am, speaking of the credit card-“

“-and while I’m really not sure what Leon’s playing at, that _has_ to be the disc!” she finished, arms waving. Her face was bright, blue eyes shining in the crappy lighting of the airport, and she looked more excited than he had seen her in awhile. “ _And_ there’s a laptop. A _laptop!_ He wants us to find something, Riku.”

“Did you happen to find your credit card, ma’am?”

Axel waved at her, taking the disc from Riku. “Hold on a minute, honey, we’ve just had a cliché plot twist bounce off of our heads, and none of us understand it. Isn’t this bag meant for Sora? Maybe he just wants us to take it to him and doesn’t realize you can hack-“

“Research and liberate.”

“-research and liberate all of the info on it.”

Kairi grinned, pressing the tips of her fingers together. “That’s the beauty of it! Even if he didn’t mean to give it to us, he _did._ Now this laptop…” She tapped the end of the sleek computer poking out of the black bag. “It’s not the same one I used at his apartment. And for the love of God, Axel, pay the poor woman before she has a stroke.” She reached down, pulled out the Visa, and handed it to him before going on. “I have my flash drive in the duffel bag, so I can take all of whatever we find that we can use and keep it for later. So if he _didn’t_ mean for us to have it, they’ll never know otherwise.” She glared at Axel, who was still studying the disc. “Axel, buy our tickets before the poor woman has an aneurysm!”

Axel scowled and handed the disc back to Kairi, turning to the counter to gruffly purchase their tickets. She took it, smiled at it, and slid it back into the bag before closing it and pulling it up onto her shoulder. She winced suddenly, Riku noticed out of the corner of his eye, nearly dropping the bag again. He reached out and gently took it from her, quirking an eyebrow at her.

“Don’t worry about it,” she said in reply. “It’s nothing bad, just a little bruising.” She smiled and let him take it, rolling her shoulders and neck, and Riku silently vowed to take a look at it later. He had learned over the years that “just a little” meant “not quite bad enough for a hospital visit _yet_ ” when it came to situations like this. Any other time, a paper-cut would be worthy of a freak-out. He slid the bag over his own shoulder and held in a wince as he felt the result of his fall, and quite suddenly, he remembered that, yes, his ankle still hurt.

“Five-thirty.” Axel turned back and handed them each a ticket, sliding the credit card into his pocket. “Now we go sit in the gate for an hour,” he said as they began walking. “Gate eight and – Riku, why the hell are you limping?” He suddenly grinned and opened his mouth, but Riku beat him to it.

“Shut up, Axel.”

Axel blinked, surprised. “…You don’t even know what I was about to say!” he exclaimed indignantly.

Kairi poked him in the side gently. “You’re predictable, Axel. And I’m telling Sora what you were thinking about – _no_ , I’m telling _Roxas_ what you were thinking about Sora and Riku!”

“Hey, I just wanted to know why he was limping and that _happened_ to be the most plausible reason I could think of!” Axel insisted, but his grin was one of a very perverse nature. “So, Riku, how was your first time?”

“I’m not the virgin here, _Axel_ ,” the detective replied and Kairi snickered beside him. “And I fell from a fire escape, remember?”

“Oh, yeah.” The redhead scowled, shaking his head a little and causing his still-soaked spikes to flop a little. He scowled at the spikes. “That’s it. Kairi, give me your brush.”

They sat down in the terminal, Kairi handing him a brush and pulling out the laptop. She smiled again, running her hands over the top of it as if greeting an old friend, before opening it and firing it up. Riku watched as the screen lit up, then turned his gaze away to watch the terminal, expecting to see black and silver at any given moment.

Kairi made a noise of annoyance beside him. “It’s password locked!” she whined.

“Told you so.” Axel smirked, leaning over to peer at the screen over her shoulder, pulling his hair into a low ponytail. Now, Riku found himself thinking, they all matched. “…He’s got a kitten as his display picture. Whether he saved our asses or not, he loses man-points for that.”

“Shut up, Axel,” Riku said tonelessly. “Can you get in?”

The redhead nodded, tapping her nails against the keyboard. “Of course I can!” Her tone implied that Riku’s lack of faith was highly annoying and unnecessary. “It’s just aggravating. But they didn’t call me Ace in high school for nothing.”

Riku lifted a tired eyebrow. “They didn’t call you Ace for hacking either.”

“Research and liberate,” Kairi replied automatically, though a faint hint of redness filled her cheeks. “And they didn’t call you Bing-Bing for the bell on your bike, and unless you want Sora to find out where it came from, I suggest you kindly shut your yap.”

Riku decided that kindly shutting his yap was the best course of action, especially now that Kairi was staring at the screen intently and wouldn’t appreciate a comeback, even if he could magically pull one out of his exhausted ear. So, to the sounds of her fingers tap-tap-tapping away at the keys, Axel’s quiet humming, and the hustle and bustle around him, he closed his eyes, just for a moment, and let the noise fade around him, not quite able to sleep (the leftover adrenaline prevented that quite nicely) but able to doze and let his mind wander briefly over the events of the past few days. It was only moments later, or so it seemed, that Axel was reaching over Kairi and tapping him on the shoulder. He opened one eye to glare at the redhead.

“Plane’s boarding,” Axel said, trailing off into a yawn. Kairi was closing up the laptop beside him, scowling at it good-naturedly. “This is a… what, thirty minute flight?”

Nodding in reply, Riku stood, stretching his arms out above his head and wincing as he unwittingly put pressure on his injured ankle again. “Yeah. I’ll call ‘em once we’re in the air.” He grabbed the duffel bag from underneath Kairi’s seat as the other two moved to get in line, glancing over his shoulder. A flash of color out of the corner of his eye caused him to drop the bag with a low curse and straighten, but the phantom was already gone, vanished into the crowd of people moving to board planes, lost among harried mothers and screaming children and lovers too far from home.

“…He just came to make sure we were alive,” Kairi said when he settled into line behind her, a small, secret, guilty smile on her face, like she couldn’t help but feel happy that he’d been there, just for that moment.

“No,” Axel replied, his tone a displeased growl of sorts. “He came to make sure _you_ were alive. He doesn’t give a rat’s ass about us. Not that I want him to,” he added, a disturbed look crossing his face. “…Ew.”

Kairi didn’t reply, shifting the black bag on her shoulder as she handed her ticket to the lady at the counter who was giving Riku a wary look. But that small smile was still on her face, and Riku was willing to bet his soul that her quickening pulse was not because of the adrenaline, the butterflies in her stomach were not due to their impending flight, and the sparkle in her eyes was not for a Krispy Kreme baker’s dozen.

Damn. He couldn’t wait to get out of Missouri.

 

Riku found an aisle between himself and the two redheads, much to the dismay of the flight attendant who wanted nothing more than to ignore Riku and be on her merry way, much less offer him a drink. She stammered out her offer valiantly, with a fake smile and one hand in her pocket, clutching a can of mace like a lifeline, the relief showing on pretty features when Riku politely refused. She walked down the aisle toward the other attendant as though her ass were on fire, pausing to whisper urgently in her friends’ ear and glance furtively back at Riku. If he had gotten his scrapes, bruises, and black eye a different way, it probably would have been funny.

“Hey,” Axel said after take-off, and Riku looked over with a yawn. “Call Rox. I don’t want to be waiting at the airport for three hours when I could be sleeping.”

“Is that legal?” Riku asked, mostly on principle, because he was already pulling out his cell phone.

The redhead shrugged, jostling Kairi and earning himself a hearty glare. “It is in Europe.”

Well, that was good enough for him. He punched in the number that still hadn’t quite faded from the back of his hand, now a pale purple that would probably only last another shower or two. (He suddenly remembered his shower curtain, still in a tangle on the bathroom floor, and Chubchub was probably having a heyday with it.)

He realized belatedly that it was four minutes after five o’clock in the morning, and there was a good chance that Sora was sound asleep and wouldn’t like being woken up. After the second ring, he figured that it was a lost cause and they’d be better off taking a taxi.

It was a miracle, then, that the third ring was cut off halfway through. Riku changed his mind a second later.

“What the hell is wrong with you? Don’t you realize what time it is?”

Riku sighed. He’d been hoping for Sora. “Yeah, sorry, anyway-“

“You don’t _sound_ sorry.”

“Well, I don’t _feel_ sorry, and it doesn’t matter. Look-“

“It matters to _me_ , asshole!” Roxas interrupted.

“If you don’t stop cutting in, I’m going to hand the phone to Axel, and he has a whole new set of lines he’s dying to try out on you.” Roxas was silent, and Riku took it for ‘why, yes, Riku, I’ll be quiet out of fear of your best friend’s libido.’ “Now, listen-“

“Sora says hi.”

Riku blinked. He decided to allow that interruption. “Oh. Um, tell him I said-“

He yanked the phone away from his ear, just in time for the whole plane to hear, “ _SORA! RIKU SAYS HE WANTS TO DO STRANGE THINGS TO YOUR EAR!_ ”

“I did not!” Riku hissed.

“Doesn’t mean you don’t want to.”

“Give the goddamned phone to Sora, Roxas,” the detective said in a low, threatening voice – of course, it could have also been embarrassed, seeing as everyone on the plane was giving him strange looks, and Axel was laughing like he’d just seen Britney Spears take a dive off the wing.

“I don’t think that’s a good idea.” Riku could hear the smirk in Roxas’ voice. “He’s turned kind of an off-red, and he’s not really breathing.”

“You’re starting to sound like Axel.”

There was a pause, and then a growl that sounded strangely like a mesh of “stupid pyro” and “rubbing off on me,” and that didn’t sit too well in Riku’s brain. He could hear the sound of the phone being tossed off to someone, and finally, the voice he’d wanted to hear.

“Um. Hi, Riku.”

Riku couldn’t help smiling, just a little, even if it freaked the flight attendants out. “Hi, Sora. So-“

“Did you really, uh, say that?”

Mentally, Riku began cursing Roxas and his entire existence. “Uh. No.”

“Oh.”

“Anyway,” he plowed onward, ignoring the awkward pause that could have gone there, “we’re-“

“Because you can, you know.”

Oh, for the love of…

Wait, _what?_

“Do strange things to my ear, I mean. If you want to.”

It was then that Riku decided that, while Roxas was a selfish, neurotic, anal little bastard, he wasn’t half bad. “Um. Yeah. Okay. Later.”

“Okay. Later.” Sora sounded relieved. “But what were you calling about?”

“Oh!” The smile vanished from Riku’s face as he was forced to remember exactly what had happened to him the night before… or that morning, or whatever. “We’re on a plane to Chicago. They found us.”

He heard Sora suck in a hissing breath, and wondered what expression the brunet’s face would show, if he would have that strange impassive look that Axel got whenever he was raging inwardly, or if his eyes would narrow and a small, humorless smile would play on his lips like Kairi’s. Or maybe, he thought, Sora would have an expression all his own. Honestly, he hoped he’d never have to see it.

“Alright, don’t tell me what happened over the phone. When are you landing?”

“About twenty minutes.” A flash of red caught his eye and he turned to see both Axel and Kairi waving to get his attention, the former pointing at Kairi and the latter giving him a rock ‘n’ roll hand. It seemed that she had finally cracked the password.

“We’ll pick you up,” Sora promised.

Riku smiled and nodded at the two redheads, holding up a finger – and not his middle one. “Alright. I’ve gotta go, I’ll see you soon.”

“Okay – no, wait a minute. Guard your ear.”

Riku wisely pulled the phone an inch or two away from his ear.

“ _ROXAS! RIKU SAYS THAT AXEL SAYS THAT HE WANTS TO PIN YOU UP AGAINST THE WALL AND DO YOU LIKE THE GIRL YOU ARE!_ Bye, Riku!”

Riku was smirking as he shoved the phone back into his pocket and turned to Axel and Kairi. “You got in?” he said.

“Not recently,” Axel replied.

“How about never, you perv?” Kairi shifted the laptop for Riku to see. “But yeah, I got in. To the computer, anyway, not what Axel’s talking about.” Her expression changed from smug to a look of vague intrigue. “I haven’t been able to check out the disc yet, but this… This is really weird, Riku. Look.”

She passed the laptop over the aisle and he positioned it on his lap, glancing at the picture she had pulled up on the screen. It took a moment for him to process it fully. “That looks a lot like… oh. _Oh._ ”

He realized then that he was not, in fact, studying a photograph of someone who looked like him, but instead was actually studying a photograph of himself. It had been taken sometime in the winter months, he could see the snow on the cars and the ice on the trees and wires behind him, January, he’d guess, in the middle of the big winter storms.

“Whoever took it would have had to have been either really close to you, or had to have had a really good camera,” Kairi said. “The shot’s nearly perfect, artistic almost. Minimize that, though, that’s not even the weirdest part. Check out the first document I have open.” He did as she instructed, and a moment later he was reading his own full name, his own address, his license plate number of his recently destroyed model and make, his birthday, his physical description, and the transcript of a phone call he had received months earlier, one of the last he had ever exchanged with the Organization.

“What the hell is this?” he asked, though he knew Kairi didn’t have an answer.

“There’s one for me and Axel, too. And, Riku, Leon _knew_ that I was a hack- researcher and liberator, it’s right there in my file! I don’t know what that means yet, but damned if I won’t find out… And a lot on the Organization, a fucking _goldmine_ , Riku… Things that if we had known, we’d have never had to gone undercover in the first place!” she replied, voice rising in excitement about her findings. Axel quickly hushed her, glancing around nervously.

Riku handed it back as she took out her flash drive and pulled the disc out of the bag, cheeks coloring sheepishly as she realized her own mistake – the Organization could have spies anywhere, even miles above ground. A thoughtful look crossed her face a moment after the disc loaded, and she passed it back across the aisle.

“…It’s some kind of ledger,” Riku said, studying the numbers and names and finding none that jumped out at him, nothing that clicked at all. There was no hint as to what it was a record of, just endless rows of transactions. “Big money, too.” He passed it back and Axel took it this time, studying the screen.

“…It’s too low for blood money,” the redhead clarified. “Maybe gambling, but that would put a serious impact on the economy. Drug money?”

“A little pricey, don’t you think?” Kairi asked. “I mean, I know inflation sucks and the economy’s in the pooper, but that’s still too much, even for the exotic crap.” She glanced around. “…We’ll figure it out later. I’ll copy everything over and search the names on Google when I get a chance later.” She settled down to work, Axel watching quietly over her shoulder.

Riku turned his gaze to the window, where the sun was breaking through the clouds, painting the sky a medley of oranges and soft pinks. He closed his eyes for a moment, going over the recently obtained information in his head, trying to find a logical solution, one that didn’t involve conspiracy theories or “Big Brother.” As it was, he could only come to one conclusion, and even the details on that were vague.

“They’ve been watching us,” Axel said suddenly, as though he had been following Riku’s inner thoughts like a radio show. Riku nodded in reply, mulling over all the questions he had rolling around his mind – who, exactly, were they? How long had they been watching him? Was he going to wake up one morning to find himself being shipped far, far away, or just not wake up one morning at all?

Was Sora a part of it?

“…We’ll need to play along,” he finally decided heavily. “We can’t let them know that _we_ know, especially since we _don’t_ know what will happen if they know that we…” He trailed off as he found Axel staring at him like he’d just started speaking Latin. Badly.

“…So pretend that we don’t know,” Axel said, mostly to clarify it for himself; Kairi was having no trouble understanding exhausted-Riku-speak, “when we actually do know, so that they don’t know that we know?”

Riku nodded. “Yeah. They can’t know that we know, because if they knew that _we_ knew, _God_ only knows what would happen.”

The redhead flopped back in his seat, closing his eyes. “God, I hate undercover work.”

Kairi shut the laptop a few minutes later, just as the flight attendants announced that they were preparing for landing, closing her eyes and rolling her neck and shoulders. Riku caught the wince and the way her hand felt her shoulder gingerly, looking away before she could catch him and insist that it was “just bruising.”

Ten minutes later, they touched down in Chicago.

 

“Do you see them?”

Riku shook his head, searching through the crowds for a familiar, blue-eyed face. He could see only a mass of people, all heading toward the same damn exit, it seemed, as though there weren’t six in the place, all of them conveniently located nearby. Kairi’s hand was wrapped around his arm, the one that wasn’t supporting the duffel and Leon’s black bag, and he was careful not to accidentally shake her off lest he lose her in the crowd. Axel was walking just a few paces behind, searching the heads for blond or brown spikes, his height giving him more of an advantage than Riku.

“Up there,” Axel pointed out a few moments later, and Riku’s eyes immediately picked chocolate spikes out of the crowd and Roxas leaning on a railing nearby. Sora was waving at him, smiling, but the smile was tight, lacking its usual cheer. Roxas seemed happier just to ignore them.

The smile faded even more as they drew closer. Sora elbowed Roxas sharply, causing the blond to jolt, sunglasses falling from his eyes, and Riku came to the realization that the blond had apparently been asleep. As he bent over to pick them up, he too caught sight of the trio, and an odd look crossed his face, a mix of anger and concern.

“What the hell did you do?” the blond demanded of Axel when they were within speaking range.

“Hey, it wasn’t _my_ fault!” Axel tried to sound indignant and failed miserably, his jester’s grin breaking through. “It’s just a few scrapes and bruises, don’t worry.”

Roxas’ eyes narrowed slightly at him. “…Hmph. I’ll decide whether or not to worry later…” he muttered. A stricken look crossed his face. “…I’m not _worried_ about you!” Axel kept grinning. “I’m _not!”_ He scowled, though Riku had a feeling that it was more at himself than anyone there… Well, maybe Axel, he reconsidered. The blond grabbed Axel’s arm and dragged him away, to the restroom, apparently to make his judgment on Axel’s health. It was either that, or those stalls were about to see Axel’s virginity being stolen away, and Riku didn’t really want to think about that. At all.

“Are you okay?” Sora said to Riku quietly, and the detective pulled his eyes away from Roxas and Axel’s retreating backs to find concerned blue looking up at him. “You’ve got, like… That’s a lot of blood.”

“I’m fine,” he said, smiling, but he was sure that it was just as tight as Sora’s had been, because he was tired, sore, and probably being spied on by some foreign government or something.

“Don’t listen to him,” Kairi spoke up from beside him. “They fucking shot him.”

Sora’s eyes widened and he stared at Riku in shock, eyes trailing down the detective’s body, searching for a gaping bullet hole that he had somehow missed before. “They… what?”

Riku cast a half-hearted glare at Kairi. “It just grazed me,” he replied. “I’m fine.”

“He also fell from a fire escape at three stories,” Kairi went on matter-of-factly. Sora’s hand shot up to Riku’s neck as though he were certain it should have been twisted at an odd, sickening angle, but hovered there for a moment until Riku caught it gently.

“I’m _fine_ ,” he repeated, and loosened his grip to let Sora’s hand fall. Sora, however, didn’t let go.

“What…” The brunet took a deep breath and turned to Kairi. “What about you?” he asked.

She smiled. “I’m exhausted,” she said, patting Sora on the shoulder and snagging his sunglasses off of his head. “And I’m hungry, and I need a shower before the mud in my hair decides to stick around permanently. And I’d like a donut. But other than that, I’m fine.”

“And some medical attention!” Roxas pushed his way through a mess of people nearby, ignoring their indignant gazes, Axel in tow.

“I’m not going to the hospital, Roxy,” Axel said with a fond sort of exasperation. Riku had a feeling he had missed the argument. Thankfully.

Roxas turned to glare at Axel. “Call me Roxy again and you’ll need to. My name is _Roxas_ , damn it, not sweetheart, not honey, not angelcake, not snuggle-bear, and not fucking _Roxy_.” He huffed, crossing his arms across his chest, and managed to look very much like a pouting teenager. “You make me sound like a goddamned _girl_. I am not a girl.”

Axel smirked, and Riku quickly spoke up before the redhead could make a comment that would probably get him killed. “Why would he need to go to the hospital?” he asked.

“Pull up your sleeves,” Roxas told Axel.

The redhead rolled his eyes, hugging his jacket a little bit tighter around himself. “Come on, Roxas, it’s not that bad.”

“ _Pull up your sleeves,_ Axel.”

Finally, Axel obliged, pulling up his sleeves and revealing a long series of scratches, and Riku instantly thought of the jagged glass of the broken window and his own hands, barely-healed cuts crisscrossing over pale skin. His weren’t nearly as bad as Axel’s, however, and he noted with a flip of his stomach that some of them were still bleeding, just a little bit, reopened by the rush of fabric against his skin. Some of them would scar. Why hadn’t he noticed them earlier?

Then again, Axel had always been the best at hiding his scars from them.

“Axel,” Kairi said slowly. “Those might actually need stitches. And they might still have glass in them.”

“They don’t.” Axel pulled his sleeves down again, looking slightly annoyed. “And all they need’s a band-aid.”

“A _band-aid_ ,” Sora repeated incredulously. “Seriously, like, a _band-aid_?”

“Riku, make your boyfriend drop the subject.”

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Riku and Sora said in unison, then looked at each other – or, rather, Riku looked at Sora’s ear and Sora looked at Riku’s mouth. A beat passed.

“Um.” Sora pulled his eyes away, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

Riku cleared his throat, deciding that the ceiling was perhaps the most fascinating thing he had ever seen.

Kairi looked between them, then over at Roxas’ scowl and Axel’s arms, and finally pulled Sora’s sunglasses over her eyes and started walking away. “I swear to God, it’s like being back in fucking high school.”

Riku started to follow her, as Axel and Roxas were doing, but Sora held him back.

“You didn’t mention on the phone…” Sora said quietly, and Riku could see worry in his face. “Is Leon…?” He let the question trail off, but Riku knew what he was asking.

“I don’t know,” the detective replied honestly. Sora nodded slowly, and Riku watched as he forced himself to remain optimistic, even if the brunet never said a word aloud. Finally, they moved to follow the others out to what was probably a stolen car.

And Sora was still holding his hand.

 

That night, after Kairi had informed him that the huge, purpling bruise on her shoulder didn’t hurt as bad as it seemed, after Axel’s arms had been wrapped in gauze by a swearing, Neosporin-wielding Roxas, and after they had checked into some crappy hotel for the night, Riku found himself alone. He had napped the day away once the night before had caught up to him, awakening sometime soon after dinner, as had Axel and Kairi. Axel, however, was winning a hand of poker while Roxas watched in the shady bar downstairs, breathing in nicotine-laced secondhand smoke and craving a cigarette of his own. He had only ever lost to one person, and that opponent was dead, and the blood on the pavement had signaled the end of the redhead’s losing streak, even if Axel himself hadn’t been there to witness it.

He thanked whatever god would listen for that.

Kairi was holed up in her room, under the pretense of sleeping. Riku supposed it made her feel better to lie about what she was doing, even if she knew that Axel and Riku could see right through her crystal façade of bravery. His cell phone was missing from his pocket, and every now and again, he could hear the sound quiet laughter and hushed tears through the paper-thin, peeling walls.

The lighting was dim, casting strange shadows about, and Riku’s ankle still hurt, but he was too busy thinking about how Axel was going to save up his money again for another Firebird, a sleek silver one this time, too busy picturing how sad and yet so _happy_ Kairi’s smile would be as she ran his cell battery down to really notice the pain. He barely noticed the quiet, hesitant knock on the door, forcing himself back to his own room as he got up to throw back the chain and deadbolt.

Sora looked nervous.

“Hey,” the brunet said, standing in the doorway even though Riku stepped back to let him through. “I was just… Well, you seemed…” He shifted his weight, scratching the back of his anxiously, avoiding Riku’s eyes.

It was leftover adrenaline, Riku would later claim, that made him forget about the picture and the files and all of his suspicions. It was leftover adrenaline that made him notice the way Sora still managed to look breathtaking in the cheap lighting of the hotel, the way the neon lights of the shady club next door seemed to dance across his features like a divine glow. It was the adrenaline, he’d swear, that made him take Sora by the hand and pull him inside, made him slide his fingers through soft brown hair, made him ignore the voice that wondered if the next morning would be the morning he just didn’t wake up because of _Sora_ , made him press Sora back against the door, made him want to find out what Sora would taste like, made him _really_ want to do strange things to Sora’s ear.

The adrenaline would wear off in the morning. In the morning, Riku would remember the picture, the files, the case, the scratch on his cheek, and he would be thankful that he woke up at all. But he would also remember the way Sora’s blue eyes were like an endless ocean, the way they darkened to a midnight velvet, the way they fluttered closed in pleasure. In the morning, the place beside him would still be warm, but he would be alone again. Sora would avoid his eyes when he came downstairs for a mostly-cold continental breakfast, would flush bright red every time he spoke, would push Sora away because Sora would regret a cheap hotel bed and crappy lighting and complications on something Riku didn’t even understand. Riku would regret Sora’s regrets.

And so he pulled away from the door, even though the leftover adrenaline was still pulsing through his veins, pulled away from Sora, who moved to catch his lips again, and Riku let him. One more time. The second time he pulled away, Sora stayed against the door, eyes not quite midnight, but a soft twilight sky, halfway between day and night and endlessly understanding.

“When it’s over,” Riku said breathlessly.

Sora nodded, a little rushed. “Later,” he agreed.

Riku stepped back a pace, just enough for Sora to be able to open the door and slip out, pausing to glance back at him once as though the regret in the morning would be worth it after all before moving away down the hall. Riku watched him quietly until the brunet vanished into his own room, then closed the door and leaned against it, just breathing.

Eventually, he clicked off the dim lighting in the room and closed the curtains, lying down on the lumpy bed in the dark and listened to Kairi crying and laughing in the room next door and thought about Axel smirking at his opponent on the outside and thinking of Luxord flat-out on the pavement on the inside and losing his next hand out of respect for the asshole, however little he had deserved it.

He _had_ been an asshole.

Riku knew that didn’t even begin to justify the past.


	10. Manic Monday

Riku stumbled out of bed the next morning – literally, because Axel had apparently rolled out of his own bed and fallen asleep in a tangle of blankets on the floor right next to Riku’s. He tripped over the redhead’s unconscious -   possibly dead if he’d put the moves on Roxas - body and went smashing face-first into the second bed, the one that Axel had fallen out of. For a moment, he was sure he would suffocate in the tangled sheets, and wouldn’t they just laugh when they found him dead on a cheap hotel bed with his foot in Axel’s mouth? He wriggled his way out of them and glared at the redhead simply because he had just very nearly caused Riku’s death and hadn’t even had the decency to wake up.

He stumbled toward the crappy bathroom, wondering briefly why no one had bothered to make the awful complimentary coffee and rubbing sleep from his eyes all the way. Yawning, he felt for the doorknob and turned it, pushing the door open with his shoulder when it stuck to the doorframe.

“Axel, if you- _holy shit!_ ”

Riku let out a similar curse and shot back, tripping over his own two feet and shielding his eyes with one hand. “What the hell are you _doing?!_ ”

“What the hell am _I_ doing?!” Roxas yanked a towel off of the rack, wrapping it around himself just as Riku peeked through his fingers. “What the hell are _you_ doing?!”

Riku cautiously uncovered his eyes. “It’s _my_ bathroom. Why are you _naked_?”

“It was dirty! I was cleaning!”

The detective blinked, and glanced over to see if Axel was still dead to the world. He was. “…And cleaning involves you being naked?”

Roxas blushed a bright red and tightened his grip on the towel shielding his happy man-parts from Riku’s eyes. “I was going to take a shower afterward.”

“Alright, that explains the naked, I guess.” God, it was really too early for this. If Roxas had already been up and naked, why the hell hadn’t he made coffee? “Why are you naked in _my_ bath-“ His brain suddenly supplied a conclusion and promptly died. “Holy… How drunk did Axel get you last night?!”

Roxas’ mouth fell open. “What? No! _No!_ It’s not what it looks like! I – he… He fucking _passed out_ on me! I _had_ to sleep with him, he wouldn’t get off!” A horrified look crossed his face as he realized exactly what he had just said. “I didn’t mean it like – _Just get the fuck out!_ ”

The chipped wooden door was then slammed in Riku’s face, leaving him staring at it with a mix of amusement and horror. He heard a rustle and a curse that could only be a hung-over Axel finally rousing from the dead, and looked over to see Axel half-draped over a bed, gel-free red hair falling around him.

“So, you raped Roxas,” Riku said, now fully awake thanks to Roxas’ screaming and nudity. He dug through the duffel bag, found a bottle of pain killer, and pegged Axel in the head with it because he could. “Did you at least make him like it?”

“Shut up, asshole, I didn’t _rape_ him,” Axel replied, voice muffled by the mattress and one hand blindly groping for the bottle. “I just molested him a little bit before I used him as a pillow. Get me water.”

“Say please.”

Axel mustered up the energy to flash him a middle finger.

Roxas tossed him a complimentary expired bottle of water – and who knew that water had an expiration date? – which bounced off of his head as well. “You win?”

Axel downed four ibuprofen, dooming his stomach lining to a short life of misery. “From what I can remember, every game except one. I think I drank the money away.”

The shower shut off, cutting their conversation short. Axel flopped back down onto the floor, burying himself in the blankets and covering his head with a pillow. Riku managed to wipe the smirk off of his face just as the bathroom door was pulled, got stuck, and was yanked open fully, banging into the wall behind it, allowing Roxas to stomp out in the clothes he had worn the night before.

“Not a word,” the blond hissed, glaring at Riku leaning on the wall and Axel lying in the floor in turn. He made it to the door before Axel couldn’t help himself.

“Hey, babycakes, I’ll call you later!”

Roxas growled something obscene in reply and yanked open the door far enough for the chain to get caught, closed it, unhooked the chain, opened it again, and stomped out like he’d _meant_ for that to happen, damn it, slamming the door behind him for good measure. A moment later, the door opened again, and Kairi stuck her head in.

“Axel, did you rape Roxas?”

“I didn’t _rape_ him!” Axel repeated, wincing a little as the door opened fully and let light in. “I just felt him up and passed out on top of him!”

Kairi grinned. “Of course. Donut?”

Axel turned a decidedly disturbing shade of green and quickly made his way to the recently-cleaned bathroom. Kairi watched him go, unrepentant, and offered the box to Riku.

“So, talk about anything interesting? Figure out the meaning of life?” he asked as he carefully selected a donut.

She shrugged, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and kicking Axel’s covers out of her way. “There was a lot of catching up… We talked a little bit about… you know, what happened after.”

Riku smirked at her. “And a lot of ‘I love you,’ ‘I love you more,’ ‘No, I love _you_ more.’” And judging by the redness of her ear, she had fallen asleep to the sound of his soothing voice, or some romantic crap like that.

Kairi blushed a little. “Some of that too.” She looked down at the donut box in her lap, and her voice went a little quieter. “Yeah, well… I doubt that’ll happen again anytime soon… He almost got caught.”

Riku patted her shoulder gently and began making his way toward the restroom to make sure Axel hadn’t just up and drowned himself or something. He glanced back and saw her smiling sadly at the box of donuts.

“It’s for the best,” she said, mostly in an attempt to convince herself, it seemed. Riku kept his mouth shut, biting back the urge to tell her that there was no need to complicate things further and that she didn’t know if he was going to betray her like the selfish bastard he was, and knocked on the bathroom door instead.

“I’m never drinking again!” Axel called weakly, which meant that he was either still alive or had decided to try and get into Roxas’ pants from beyond the grave. “But, man, it’s clean in here!”

Riku generally disliked Mondays.

 

“ _No_.”

Roxas and Sora glanced at each other, both a little caught off-guard by the three detectives’ synchronized refusal. Riku leaned back in his chair, arms crossed and mostly-cleared plate of cheap Thai food in front of him. Axel was still picking at Roxas’ food, his own plate having been cleared long before, and Kairi was studying the dessert menu. The three had spoken without even looking up at the brothers.

Sora shook his head. “Look, you can’t exactly go back to St. Louis right now, and God knows you can’t just wander around Chicago, so at least let us-“

“No, Sora,” Riku interrupted.

“Your last ‘safe place’ nearly got us all killed,” Axel threw in around a bite of _pad kra-prao_. “Might as well just take us with you.”

“You can’t come with us,” Roxas replied, taking a bite as well.

“It’s too dangerous?” Kairi guessed, eyes not straying from the dessert menu. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’ve kind of sucked at protecting us from danger. You know. The whole explosion.”

“My car,” Axel added.

“Death threats,” Kairi went on.

“My car.”

“A shoot-out.”

“My _car_.”

“Fourteen stories on a wet fire escape.”

“My goddamn car!”

“Car chase.”

“My poor car…”

“And-“

Roxas interrupted her, a hand rubbing his temple gingerly. “I get it, I get it! But you still can’t come with us… _Not_ because it’s too dangerous,” he said as Kairi opened her mouth to argue again. “But we can’t tell you why.”

Kairi studied him for a minute, and then the corners of her mouth lifted ever-so-slightly into a smile that could incite terror in the Grim Reaper, but she didn’t say anything. Roxas didn’t catch her knowing smile.

“Look, this place _is_ safe. The safest. I can almost guarant-fucking-tee that absolutely _nothing_ is going to happen to you while you’re there.” Roxas’ chopsticks briefly met Axel’s as they both grabbed for the same piece of chicken, and he yanked them away like they had caught on fire.

“Where?” Riku asked.

“Wonder Lake,” Sora replied. “It’s quiet, you know? Someplace they wouldn’t look.”

“See, you underestimate the Organization,” Axel said, pointing at Sora with his chopsticks. “What you don’t get is that they’re going to look. They’re going to look _everywhere_. They’ve got eyes everywhere, even a state away. They’re going to _expect_ us to go ‘someplace they wouldn’t look,’ and they’re going to _expect_ us to run and hide. But what they _don’t_ expect is for us to throw ourselves in the crosshairs.” He cleaned the last piece of chicken off of Roxas’ plate and leaned back in his chair, folding his arms behind his head. “Besides, this is our fight too.”

“And what exactly makes it _your_ fight, carrot top?” Roxas asked, putting his chopsticks down as well.

Axel nodded pointedly at Kairi. “They’ve got twenty grand on my girl, Roxy.”

“ _Don’t call me-_ “

Riku interrupted him, looking at Sora. “The only ‘safe’ place is out of country.”

“Continent, actually,” Kairi threw in. “They’ve got operatives in Cancun, Mexico City, Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. We’d have to go to Europe or Asia.”

“What about Australia?” Axel asked. “I could do Australia.”

“Too hot,” she replied, waving down a waiter as she finally made a choice for dessert. Conversation ceased as the man approached, and picked up again when he had walked away. “And the dingoes would-“

“Eat your baby?”

“Freak me out,” Kairi finished with a glare at the other redhead. “But it doesn’t matter. I refuse to leave.”

Roxas sighed, resting his chin on his hand and glancing at Sora. “You _refuse_ , huh?” She nodded. “We can’t fly you out of country at the moment anyway. Too much paperwork.”

“The point is,” Axel said, “we can’t just run and hide. What the hell are we supposed to do then? How long are we hiding for? Forever? I’m not staying in some crappy little apartment forever, damn it.”

“Just until we fix this,” Sora replied, reaching over to snag a piece of… whatever it was that Riku had been eating.

“And how long will _that_ take?” Axel went on. “How do you even know you _can_ fix this? What are _we_ supposed to do if you…” He stopped for a minute, glancing at Roxas, who was simply waiting for him to continue.

Kairi picked up for him. “What are we supposed to do if you _fail_?”

Riku looked at Sora, who looked at Roxas, and for the first time, the detective realized that failure most likely meant death. And if Sora died… He didn’t want to think about Sora dying anymore than Kairi or Axel dying.

Roxas shrugged. “Well, somebody else takes over and finishes it for us, then.”

“Finishes what?” Axel asked.

“We can’t tell you that,” Sora replied, stealing another piece of Riku’s food. “But the point is that you’ll be safe.”

Axel scowled at Roxas. “But you two won’t be.”

Roxas scowled right back. “ _We_ are trained for this, so stop worrying. You three would just get in the way, and at this point, it’s either we tuck you away somewhere nice and safe, or we kill you, and Sora’s going to be pissed if I have to kill Riku.”

Riku looked at Sora, who met his eyes apologetically. “You, um, really should stop asking questions now,” the brunet said. “Sorry.”

Personally, Riku thought that Sora’s sounded like a pretty good idea, especially if it meant that he’d live to see another day. Axel sat back in his chair, his hands feeling his pockets and only finding his lighter. Roxas studied it curiously for a minute, obviously expecting a package of cigarettes to follow, surprised when he didn’t see one a moment later.

“I have a last request,” Kairi spoke up. “I want to go to the library. Leon’s was boring and I need a new trashy romance.”

Roxas shrugged and glanced at Sora. “Can you-“

The brunet nodded. “I’ll take Riku. You take Kairi and Axel.”

“Take me where?” Riku stood when Sora did, following the brunet out of the crowded restaurant and into the twilight-bathed street. Sora looped his arm in Riku’s and waved a taxi down with a grin, apparently choosing not to reply.

The first stop was the hotel, or, more specifically, Sora’s room. Riku pondered this for a moment as Sora unlocked the door, this strange situation of himself and Sora in Sora’s hotel room. Alone. He found that his mind was no better than Axel’s, and he had to remind himself of their agreement to wait until everything was over – assuming they were both still alive. Unfortunately, that agreement had been preceded by kissing, and kissing Sora brought him right back to Square One on the dirty thoughts drawing board. So he forced himself to think about Larxene naked instead.

“Here, put this on.” Sora shoved a black hoodie at him, pulling on a gray one of his own. The brunet paused, looking at Riku’s face closely. “…Are you okay, Riku? You look like you’re about to puke.”

Riku shook himself mentally. “I’m fine,” he told Sora, although he really wasn’t sure about his mental state after that little thought-adventure.

“If you’re sure…” Sora replied dubiously, handing Riku a pair of gloves. This didn’t bode well. “Put those on too.”

“Tie your hair back or something,” Sora told him, digging through the bag that he had gotten the hoodies from. “It’ll get in the way if we have to run.”

Whatever Sora’s idea was, it was looking more dangerous by the second. Still, Riku tied his hair back into a loose ponytail without a word, figuring that if he was about to die or get arrested, he might as well not let his hair get tangled in the meantime.

“Which bank are we robbing?” he asked when he saw Sora slide a small handgun into a holster at his belt, pulling up his long t-shirt that usually hid it. Sora just grinned and handed Riku a gun as well.

“Don’t worry,” the brunet said. “You shouldn’t have to shoot anything… It’s really just a safety net. We shouldn’t be going anywhere without ‘em right now, anyway.”

Riku really hoped that didn’t mean they were actually robbing a bank. They couldn’t be that hard up for gas money, could they? “I get the feeling this is going to be illegal.”

Sora was still grinning. “All you have to do is hold the flashlight. Come on, let’s mosey.”

They locked the hotel room behind them and strode off down the stairs and onto the street. Sora flagged a taxi down and gave the driver some address near Jackson Boulevard with a sunny smile and a hand on Riku’s knee. He grinned through the whole ride, much in the manner that Axel did when the redhead had found a new way to torture Kairi, a mix of excitement and mischief, and just a little terrifying. The old man dropped them off at an empty lot with a confused look, but if he was about to say something, Sora’s generous tip shut him up fast enough.

“…Did you just bribe him into covering up a crime?” Riku asked when the taxi had pulled away, leaving them on a not-so busy street in the dark.

“Don’t ask, don’t tell,” Sora said. “And that was just a little extra to make sure there’s even less asking and telling.” Sora took off slowly down the street, glancing around like he was just walking home on a Monday night. Riku walked along beside him, hands tucked into his hoodie pocket.

With the words, “Pull your hood up,” Sora made a turn into a nearby parking garage, and it suddenly hit Riku like a blind old lady doing ninety in a semi.

“You’re going to get electrocuted,” Riku told him.

“I’m a pro at this, dude,” the brunet replied, still wearing that exciting, terrifying grin. “Been doing this for years.” The statement didn’t ease Riku’s fears at all.

They wandered through the lower level of the parking garage for a little bit, until Sora paused and took a good look at a silver Pontiac Grand Prix. “This one,” he said quietly. “It’s a 2001, so there’s no kill switch.” He wedged a gloved finger under the hood and pulled the latch, popping the hood for easy access. “Alrighty, hold the flashlight.”

Riku moved to shine the flashlight on the engine as Sora reached for the red coil wire. “Just don’t get shocked or anything.”

“Relax, Riku,” the brunet replied, pulling a wire out of his pocket. “Look, I’m gonna hook this to the battery and the coil.”

“Sora, I really don’t need to know this much about hotwiring a car,” Riku said.

Sora grinned. “Hey, you never know.” He motioned toward the car. “Go break in and find the starter under the steering wheel.”

“How am I supposed to-“

Sora reached into his hoodie pocket and pulled out a slim jim. Great. Even more illegal.

“Use the passenger door. And make sure the parking brake is on and put it in neutral. Oh!” Sora reached into his pocket again and handed Riku a screwdriver. “And if the alarm goes off, run like hell.” Oh, fantastic.

“What about the flashlight?” Riku asked as a last-ditch effort not to be arrested for grand theft auto.

Sora opened his mouth in reply. Riku tried not to think about that too much.

One broken lock and a lot of swearing later, the engine finally turned over and Sora shut the hood. Riku unlocked the door for him from the passenger’s seat and the brunet slid behind the wheel, flipping on the lights and pulling out of the garage with a grin.

“I _love_ doing that,” he said when they were halfway to the hotel. “You can help me when we get ready to leave tomorrow too, if you want.”

Riku looked over at Sora, at Sora’s grin and Sora’s gloved fingers gripping the wheel of a stolen car. Not just any stolen car, either, one that Riku had helped to steal.

“Okay,” he said, which was immediately followed by the wise voice in his head telling him that he was probably screwed, and he was probably going to jail someday, and it would probably Sora’s fault. And dammit, he was pretty; jail was a _bad_ place for him.

“Cool!” Sora replied, and his little stole-the-cookie-jar grin morphed into his happy smile, and Riku decided that he could probably sleep his way out of prison if he had to. He was pretty, after all.

 

“Hey, man, which bank did you rob?” was Axel’s first question when he walked through the door of their hotel room. He was reclining on the bed, flipping through movie channels that ranged from bad to worse to probably illegal in most states. Kairi was curled up on the second bed – _Riku’s_ , the detective would have liked to point out – her nose buried in _The Italian Millionaire’s Conniving Queen in His Garden of Love_ or something similar. All Riku knew was that it had a ridiculously muscled guy and a half-dressed chick on the front, and Kairi was loving it.

“I didn’t rob a bank,” Riku replied. “I stole a car.”

Axel paused in his channel-surfing and Kairi slowly looked up from her book.

“…You what?” Kairi asked.

Riku shrugged. “Sora and I stole a car.” He peeled off the black gloves and the hoodie, tossing them into the not-quite-dirty-yet pile across the room. “A Pontiac.”

“I’m jealous!” Axel leaned back against the pillows, looking highly affronted. “I’ve been trying to get you to steal a car with me since high school!”

“Neither of us knew how,” Riku reminded him.

“Well, now we do. Let’s go steal a car!”

Riku shook his head and took a seat on his bed. “No. One grand theft auto charge is enough for one night. How was the library?”

Kairi started, accidentally closing her book and losing her page. “Oh! I Googled the names!” she said, pulling a folded sheet of paper out of her pocket. “Every single one of them has vanished without a trace in the past two years, and only _this_ guy,” she shook the paper, “has ever turned up again. This is the news article. I didn’t have access to any of the databases from the library computers, they were too slow to try and hack with Roxas coming back to check on me every five minutes. This I got while Axel was keeping him busy.”

Riku looked to Axel, who grinned. “The social sciences section will never be the same.”

After processing that for a minute, Riku turned back to Kairi, who rolled her eyes. “They just made out,” she explained. “Or, rather, Axel felt him up and Roxas kissed him in a valiant effort to distract him from his ass, or so he says.” She handed him the paper.

Riku unfolded it and scanned it, taking in the headline, _“Body Found on Gasconade Bank,”_ and seeing a picture and name that jolted his memory quite suddenly.

“Hey,” he said slowly, “isn’t this the guy Zex killed?”

Axel took the paper from him. “…Yeah, it is. Why didn’t I notice before? Dates match up… They didn’t tell us he was missing vital organs, though.”

“They didn’t tell us hardly anything. I figured that would be Vexen’s personal touch,” Kairi said with a little shudder.

Riku could remember it well enough, the body having washed up in the middle of December and forcing the Organization into silencing a good many of those considered high risk in an effort to keep everything covered up. They hadn’t told him much, but he’d heard quite a bit from Demyx and Marluxia, the latter being quite the talker with a few drinks in him. It was a good thing that they had been so good at keeping their secrets, or they would have been at the bottom of the Gasconade themselves before long, especially at a time when suspicions were running high.

“Anyway,” Kairi said, “it’s safe to assume that every single person on the list is dead and gone without a trace, and I wouldn’t be surprised if they were never found again. They’re running pretty close to date, too… The last one was a few weeks ago.”

Riku studied the article again, and then passed it back to Kairi. “Keep seeing what you can dig up,” he said. She nodded, tucking the paper away in her pocket, and opened her book again, but didn’t actually read.

A beat of silence passed. Axel was the first to break it.

“So, think you can hotwire a Firebird?”

 

The Village of Wonder Lake is a small suburb situated around Wonder Lake in northern Illinois. It boasts a population of roughly 1,500 people, and was called “Wonder Creek” in the mid-‘60s by its residents, for no other reason than that they were all on too many drugs, and ‘creek’ is apparently more psychedelic and nature-loving than ‘lake.’ All in all, it was a very quiet place, and seemingly a perfect place to hide away for a good stretch of time with people they didn’t know who they were supposed to trust with their lives. At least, that was the plan.

If there was one thing that Riku had learned over the years, it was that ‘the plan’ generally got shot to hell. Usually with flames and explosions and the like.

The first sign that something was wrong came as Sora slowed the car down to a crawl and Roxas paused in mid-rant to intelligently mutter, “ _Shit_ …” The pair then proceeded to stare out the windshield at the fire trucks and ambulances parked up and down the usually quiet street, and the yellow tape surrounding what Riku could only assume had once been a house. Now it was a pile of charred rubble, still burning faintly in places.

Sora parked the car at the curb, and opened his door as Roxas did the same. He motioned for the trio in the backseat to follow suit, and they followed the brothers toward the scene. Riku noticed the grim set to Sora’s features and the anger glittering in Roxas’ eyes, and he had the feeling that their safe house wasn’t so safe anymore.

“Hey!” one of the police officers shouted as Sora approached the tape. “You can’t be crossing that, boys… ma’am,” he added as he saw Kairi.

Sora glanced at Roxas, and the blond shrugged, apparently granting permission to whatever it was Sora had asked. Sora glanced back at Riku, then reached into his pocket and pulled out a wallet, flipping it open and holding it up for the officer to inspect, a glitter of gold catching the sunlight.

Kairi sucked in a breath beside Riku. “Of course,” she murmured.

“Oh,” the officer said. “Sorry about that, sir. Uh, they with you?” he asked, motioning to everyone besides Sora.

The brunet nodded. “Any bodies?”

The officer shook his head and Sora’s shoulders lost some of their tension – not that Riku had been watching Sora close enough to notice that he had tensed up at all.

“Keep processing, then,” Roxas said. “That’s all we needed to know.”

The officer said something mundane and strode off, leaving the two detectives and their secretary watching Roxas and Sora carefully.

“Do we get any explanation at all?” Kairi asked. “Or do we get to live if we pretend that we didn’t see that?”

Roxas shook his head. “No pretending anymore. Apparently, we’ve been compromised.”

Sora rocked back on his heels, sliding his hands into his pockets and looking up at the sky. “The King’s gonna have our badges for this, dude.”

“I wanted to retire young anyway,” Roxas replied. “Come on. Sora, hotwire the car again. You three will need to tell us everything you can about your undercover work last year, and we’ll explain what _we_ can when you’re done.”

“There’s not a lot you’ll be able to tell us,” Kairi said. “That’s a big price for just a little information.”

“We kept you out of jail.” Roxas opened his door, reaching over to fiddle with the steering wheel as Sora attempted to hotwire the car a second time. “And now we’re keeping you alive.”

Riku could smell smoke in the air, left over from the smoldering remains of the house, of their last safe place, and he thought of a warehouse in east St. Louis and an apartment where they heard gunshots every night and blood on the pavement and Kairi in black leather. And he looked at Roxas again, doused in sunlight but his mind supplied the smoke and flames, and he remembered.

He didn’t want to, but he remembered.


	11. Lose Yourself

There wasn’t a lot that Axel actually remembered. The shrink he’d been assigned by the government had called it something like repressed memory or something along those lines, but Axel had only ever shown up to his appointments once and had fallen asleep on the couch, so it was quite obvious that he really didn’t give a damn if he remembered hell or not. Over the months, things had started to come back, and he was _not_ at all pleased with this. He’d looked it up once on Google – and hadn’t _that_ been an adventure – and he’d closed out the window maybe five minutes into reading it, deciding to let them come if they were coming. He was a big boy. He could handle it.

Mostly, the triggers were simple, everyday things. A look on Kairi’s face, the way Riku would bob his head along with his precious modern _alternative_ – or what Axel more commonly referred to as ‘cry-me-a-river-and-go- _drown-_ in-it crap’ – an Eminem song on the radio. He looked down at his pack of cigarettes one day and heard Kairi’s voice echo in his mind, could see her look of distaste, silhouetted in neon lights shining through a dirty window.

“ _Those things’ll kill you someday_.”

And she’d flipped her long hair and strode off to do whatever it was that she did in that crappy little apartment. He’d blinked and looked up past the fake plant and she was quirking an eyebrow at him, opening her mouth to ask him if he was alright. Before she could, he’d stood up and tossed the full carton into the trash, because he’d obviously been meant to remember that, and Axel believed in signs when it suited him.

Some things, though, he’d never forgotten. He remembered meeting Demyx for the first time, crystal clear. He easily recalled the way that the blond had been waiting for them under a dark hood, sprawled on a bench like he owned it. He easily remembered the way Demyx had grinned at them, all summer days and surfboards, and told them that if they fucked this up, he’d put a bullet in them personally. Axel hadn’t liked him then, wouldn’t like him later, and didn’t like him now.

And then there was the night that Kairi had gotten involved. She’d always technically been involved as their information analyst, a fancy term that really just meant that she got to boss them around, interrogate them, and then tell their supervisors the prettied-up version of what was going on. DiZ never found out about the nights that Axel spent hitting the bars or just how Riku got the good information out of Marluxia, because Kairi always ran damage control, and only told him what he needed to know. Axel’s coping skills and Riku’s investigative methods weren’t what he needed to know.

They did what they had to do.

It had been a surprise visit by the higher-ups, who had apparently been in the neighborhood. Kairi had been at the kitchen table instead of in the bedroom where she usually was, safely hidden away from the line of fire, and that apartment was supposed to be a safer place anyway. She had only had the time to close out the important stuff and hide the stack of files under the mess covering the kitchen table before Xemnas had strode in past Riku, the whole lot of the rest in tow. Larxene had been the first to notice her there.

“ _Well! And who’s this?_ ” the blonde had asked, smiling like a cat after a bird.

“ _My sister_ ,” Axel said just as Riku said, “ _My girlfriend_.” For a moment, no one moved, and the Organization simply looked at them. Finally, Kairi stood up.

“ _Kairi_ ,” she said strongly, planting her shaking hands on her hips and looking Larxene over. “ _I love your shoes_.”

And from then on, Kairi had played the part of the gangster’s girlfriend and the gangster’s sister, filling her wardrobe full of tight jeans and knock-off tags, throwing in some black leather for good measure. She wore too much makeup and earrings that freaking touched her shoulders, and stayed as close to Axel, Riku, and Demyx as she could.

After that, the rest of it ran together. He remembered having to prove himself, he remembered getting drunk _a lot_ , and he was pretty sure he may have helped rob a bank at one point, and possibly may have trafficked drugs through to Nebraska. One afternoon, he woke up with Riku icing tattoos on his cheeks, diamonds of all things, like he didn’t already look like a clown, but he wasn’t too sure how he’d gotten them. He didn’t feel like he had a hangover, and he didn’t remember losing at cards, but Riku looked grim, so he didn’t ask. Months later, when he’d let it slip out that he didn’t remember, Riku had refused to look at him. “ _Good_ ,” he’d said quietly, and Axel left it at that.

“ _A-Axel… Oh, god, Axel, we…_ ”

Riku’s breath had hitched and Axel had shot up from where he’d been lying on the crappy sofa, because his best friend was fucking crying over the phone, and he could hear Kairi in near-hysterics and Demyx was saying something in the background. He was grabbing his jacket off the coffee table and was out the door before Riku could find the breath to speak.

“ _…I-I killed him._ ”

He remembered picking them up, remembered the tears streaming down Riku’s face and the way that Demyx was holding Kairi up, forcing her to take one step after another. He doesn’t know exactly how they covered it up, just that it didn’t fucking work, because the next memory he had was in the middle of an April night.

This time, when he answered, there was nothing but silence.

He had pulled it away from his ear and looked at the number, and sure enough, it was Riku’s. He called Riku’s name, but all he got was something rustling in response, and that didn’t sit too well with him. He shook his head and hung up, figuring that Riku’s butt had called him again, even if there was a little voice inside his head telling him that no, something was horribly wrong.

He’d set the phone down again and laid back down in the dark, but it was only a few seconds later before the phone rang again, and this time it was Demyx.

“ _It’s over, man, they know_ ,” the blond had said in a rush, like he was running out of time, and it hit Axel. Time was already up. And if time was up and Riku was sending silent calls…

Shit. He didn’t want to think about that.

“ _I’m droppin’ baby girl off with DiZ. They’re taking Riku to the warehouse by the river._ ”

The warehouse was already on fire by the time Axel had gotten there, black smoke rolling out the two-by-fours boarding up the windows and billowing through the broken glass up into the sky. He had spared a moment to stare in horror before sending a prayer up to whatever god was willing to listen before crashing his way through the door and throwing himself into the flames.

The warehouses by the river were big, filled with crates, most of them on fire and crackling in the heat as Axel ran past them. He crouched low and held a hand over his mouth, calling out Riku’s name through his fingers. His throat grew hoarser by the second, smoke burning its way into his lungs, until he finally succumbed to coughing in the middle of Riku’s name, stumbling and falling, just barely aware enough to dodge a falling fireball of a crate.

“ _What the fuck are you doing?!_ ”

He pushed himself up onto his hands and knees, coughing, a hand grabbing his arm and pulling him up all the way. The blur threw Axel’s arm over his shoulders and half-dragged, half-ran him toward the exit. Axel tried to pull out of his grip and turn away, coughing out Riku’s name, but his head was spinning with the lack of oxygen, and it was simple for the other, smaller figure to pull him back toward the door again.

There was a flash of silver and he felt an ounce of strength return as recognition flashed across his mind, just enough to let him pull himself out of the other’s grip and sprint over to the crumpled form. Dismay filled him as he found that it wasn’t Riku, but instead the head bastard himself, barely conscious.

“ _Would you get your ass over here before you get us killed?!_ ” the smaller man shouted, his words fading into a cough. Axel looked over at him, and everything was still blurred and hazy with smoke and heat, then down at Xemnas, lying at his feet, the man who was the reason that Riku was probably burning alive somewhere in the warehouse.

It only took him a split second to decide. He set his jaw and dropped to one knee, swearing mentally as the jerky movements drew another coughing fit from him. He heard a crash somewhere, the roof caving in, no doubt, and pulled Xemnas’ limp arm over his shoulder, attempting to drag him to his feet and finding that he didn’t have the strength.

“ _You reckless, stupid son-of-a-bitch_ ,” he heard the other man growl behind him before he leaned over and helped Axel drag Xemnas to his feet, shuffling them both toward the door. “ _I swear to God, if this gets us killed, I’m kicking your ass straight through Hell’s floor_.”

Axel didn’t have the breath to reply.

They made it out alive, at least, and got a good twenty or so feet away before Axel collapsed to the concrete, black edging at his vision and the world swirling around him.

“ _Come on_ ,” the smaller man, and he had to be an angel or something, because only an angel could have eyes that blue. “ _You can make it_.”

He pulled Axel up again and somehow, they managed to get away from the danger zone of smoke and flames, Xemnas held up between them. This time, when Axel fell, the blue-eyed angel let Xemnas fall in order to catch the redhead before he hit the concrete. Carefully, he lowered Axel to the ground and yanked a cell phone out, just as Axel remembered Riku.

“ _He’s fine,_ ” the other said, brushing a little bit of singed hair off of Axel’s smoke-blackened face. “ _He’s nearby, I promise. It’s gonna be okay._ ”

Axel let his eyes close, the words echoing in his head. His last memory was of vivid blue eyes and a soft hand and a quiet voice telling him that it was going to be okay.

Axel remembered his angel.

 

Kairi remembered the little things. She remembered how much she hated the smell of Axel’s cigarettes and the way the inner-city never actually slept. There had been flowers embroidered on the curtains that she had bought to close out the neon lights so she could sleep, and Demyx’s laugh had always made her want to hop the next plane for sunny California. He’d had tin foil over his windows to keep the neon lights out in his room. Riku had always looked good in black.

She remembered the subtle things, the ones that were little, but big too. Axel always liked to have a six-pack in the fridge. Demyx’s sea-breeze smile had always had a little bit of a rain somewhere along the edges. Riku’s eyes had been dead that morning, and Marluxia was wearing a self-satisfied little smile every time she had seen him that day. Luxord had always watched her like a hawk, a small smirk on his lips.

She remembered, once, the way she’d finally gotten annoyed enough by Axel’s cigarettes to say something. “ _Those things’ll kill you someday_.”

Axel had shrugged and smirked, lighting one of the smokes in question. “ _If I’m lucky, they’ll hurry up about it._ ”

She remembered meeting Demyx for the first time, the way he had sat on their couch and played every song she could think of, from “American Pie” to “Ziggy Stardust.” His voice had been soft and sweet, and the guitar was a little out of tune, and he’d _have_ to show her that Chinese place a couple of blocks over because they had the best sweet and sour chicken he’d ever tasted. He had showed her how to play a chord on the guitar. She didn’t remember the chord anymore, but she remembered that his fingers pressing hers to the strings were warm.

Afternoons were her favorite memories, though, when Axel and Riku were out playing their parts and she was stuck in a crappy little apartment with just her laptop for company. Demyx came by, and she figured that he was just looking for a break from being a bad guy, because he seemed to smile a little brighter around her. He didn’t try to teach her anymore chords, but the guitar was always with him and he’d play for her, and Jesus, she loved to hear him sing. She remembered one day, when it was raining outside, he played her a song that she didn’t know. It sounded like a lullaby, though, sweet and soft and filled with promises, and his fingers kept playing even when he had leaned over the guitar. His kisses, she decided, tasted like tropical fruit and the open sea.

Larxene was hard to forget. She had latched onto Kairi, apparently thrilled to have a shopping partner. She had helped pick out Kairi’s gangster wardrobe, and she’d taken her to get her nails done at the best place in the ‘hood, where the little Vietnamese guy rattled on and on like Kairi could understand him, and she’d actually had fun. Of course, that had been before she’d seen Larxene lacing a water bottle with cyanide and leaving it in the vending machine, just because she could. Demyx had gone behind her and taken it out, but Kairi still had nightmares about what kind of person could have taken a fatal drink.

Vexen had always given her chills, she recalled. Even the name made her shudder now, made her think of cold scientist’s eyes and the way he had always looked at her like a specimen to be collected. Axel had once warned her to stay away from him. “ _Everything’s an experiment to him_ ,” the redhead had said. “ _One wrong step and you’ll wind up a lab rat._ ” She had tried avoiding him and found it a relatively easy task, the scientist preferring to keep to his notes and his research than to go retrieve “protection fee” from the locals.

The others she had only met a few times, but she remembered them easily enough. Xigbar liked his guns. Xaldin was a manipulative bastard. She’d only heard Lexaeus speak once. Zexion had always been polite. Saïx had an unhealthy obsession with the moon. Marluxia had a garden. Xemnas had a superiority complex, but everyone knew that.

But her most vivid nightmares came from Luxord. Luxord had played poker, all kinds. You name it, he could tell you the rules and the right way to cheat at it. Some of the Organization had thought him the luckiest man alive. Kairi was there the night his luck ran out.

It was raining that night, she remembered. He’d been waiting for them under an umbrella when they came out of the apartment building, Kairi on Riku’s arm like she was supposed to be and Demyx striding alongside them, holding their own umbrella over their heads. Luxord was smirking, and his predator’s grin widened when he saw them.

“ _Hey, man!_ ” Demyx had shouted, waving and grinning. Luxord didn’t give his customary nod of acknowledgement. Demyx’s grin had faltered a bit. “ _What’s up?_ ”

“ _I’d like to place a little wager_ ,” the man had said. “ _Tell me, how much are you willing to ante up for this?_ ”

He held up a sheet of paper and Kairi felt her heart stop as she found herself looking at an email that she had written a week before, detailing the Organization’s plans for a drug run, addressed to DiZ.

“… _What exactly do you want?_ ” she heard Riku ask quietly, reaching for the paper. Luxord snatched it away before he could grab it.

“ _What can you offer? And it had better be good,_ ” Luxord had smirked at her. “ _I’m sure Xemnas would love to hear exactly why all of his recent business ventures are being foiled_.”

“ _We’re not in the mood for your games,_ ” Riku had growled.

“ _Then I’ll make it clear_.” He reached forward and, deceptively gentle, traced a finger down Kairi’s cheek.

She would never be exactly sure who moved first. Demyx had lunged at about the same time that Riku had yanked her away from him, the blond’s guitar case falling to the ground. The two blonds crashed into a nearby car, locked in struggle, Demyx’s hands around Luxord’s neck and Luxord’s fists clenched in Demyx’s shirt. Kairi watched as Luxord slammed a knee up, straight into Demyx’s stomach, causing the blond’s grip to slacken just enough for Luxord to throw him off. Riku pulled out of her grip and threw himself into the fray, but Demyx was already on the ground and Luxord was bigger than Riku and ready for the fight. Riku didn’t see the way the blond braced himself, never expected Luxord to be able to slam him into the hood of the car so hard that he dented it.

Kairi remembered that he’d always been crap at fighting.

Luxord turned his focus on her then, taking a step forward and jolting Kairi into motion. She took a step back and fumbled at her jacket with shaky hands, stepping backwards as he stepped forward and _damn it_ , where the hell was her gun?!

He suddenly stopped, yanked backwards by the collar as Demyx hauled him back and slammed him into the car again. Luxord elbowed back, catching Demyx in the ribs and switched their positions, pressing the smaller blond up against the car instead. Kairi froze as she caught a glimpse of metal in the neon lights and her fingers closed around her Ladysmith, thank god. She aimed as the knife pressed against Demyx’s throat, swearing when her hands shook so much that she couldn’t get a proper sight on the bastard, pressed her finger against the trigger. Luxord looked back at her, drawing a thin line of blood from Demyx’s throat, just a shallow cut.

She froze as he met her eyes. Her mind was screaming to pull the trigger, _pull the fucking trigger_ before he could press that knife any deeper and silence that soft, sweet voice forever, but her fingers wouldn’t listen and her hands were still shaking and-

There was the sound of thunder crashing above them.

The knife slipped from Luxord’s hand and his grip loosened from Demyx’s shirt as the blond crumpled down. The gun fell from Kairi’s nerveless fingers as she watched the blood trickle out from a hole in Luxord’s head that hadn’t been there before. Demyx didn’t move for a minute, but Riku was standing up, his gun still in his hand, looking shocked as though he couldn’t believe that he had just pulled the trigger.

Demyx was the first to reach her and pull her close, pressing her face into his chest and shielding her from the blood running down the pavement with the rain, coloring it a sickening red. Somewhere in her mind, she was aware that the strange, sobbing little breaths were being wrenched from her own throat, and her knees gave out when she heard Riku say in shock, “ _…I-I killed him_.”

Demyx caught her.

That had only been a month before it had all gone to hell, a month before Demyx showed up at the door to his apartment instead of somewhere on the interstate running drugs, without his guitar and a wild, scared look in his eyes. He’d shoved all of her notes into a bag and handed her a gun, telling her to fucking _use it_ this time if she had to. It had hit her somewhere between Eureka and “ _I’m droppin’ baby girl off with DiZ_ ” that it was all over, and she was lucky to be alive.

The car ride had been quiet after that, though she was pretty sure that she had cried and Demyx had promised that it would be okay. They hit the small, quiet house somewhere around midnight and he had led her inside, flipping on lights and calling for DiZ. When she had simply stood in the foyer, a mantra of _“It’s over_ ” echoing through her mind, he had taken her by the hand and had sat her down on the couch, and wrapped her in his arms. They’d stayed there, and she barely heard Demyx and DiZ speaking over her, mind wandering until DiZ’s phone rang.

“ _They’re safe_.”

Kairi closed her eyes to keep relieved tears back, and Demyx’s arms had tightened around her. Suddenly, she was aware of how exhausted she was, the strain of the past seven months crashing down on her. Demyx’s heartbeat was in her ear and his fingers were warm, laced with hers. She fell asleep to his quiet voice singing some song that she didn’t recognize, but it sounded like a lullaby, and that was the last time she saw him. He had a cover to keep. He was important and she was a risk, and they did what they had to do.

Kairi remembered falling in love.

 

Riku remembered all of it. He wasn’t keen on forgetting any of it, either, deciding that someone needed to know what had gone down and be able to tell DiZ. Someday he’d probably have to testify, if they actually got their shit together and managed to catch the Organization. The way his luck was running, though, he’d be taking most of it to his grave, and that grave was being dug deeper with every mile they drove.

His first impression of Demyx was that the blond had been living a double life for way too long. His bright smiles were desperate, his eyes were always watching, and Riku had no doubts that he’d make good on his threat of putting them six feet under if they screwed this up for him. He was good at playing his dangerous part, and his was too important to compromise over a couple of rookie cops and a little girl. Of course, if they fucked this up, he wouldn’t be alive long enough to kill them, and Riku had a feeling that neither would they. Demyx had been their ticket in. Old acquaintances, he’d told Xemnas. Kids who were tired of walking the straight and narrow.

They’d looked the part then, Axel with his rock-and-roll spikes and his cigarettes and Riku with his cold stares and knowing smirks. They’d played the part beautifully, for awhile, at least. And then suddenly, it seemed, Riku had found himself pointing a gun at a brave bank teller, but Axel was the one who’d pulled the trigger because Riku’s fingers wouldn’t move and if someone didn’t shoot the guy pressing the alarm, the whole operation was going to hell and they were going to wind up dead. He’d been so relieved when Axel asked him how he’d gotten the tattoos. No one needed to remember the scream that Riku still heard when he thought too hard.

Kairi wasn’t supposed to have gotten involved. She was their own little addition, their information analyst, a go-between for them and DiZ. Her fingers were fast on the keyboard and she could hack into Zexion’s systems faster than Zexion could, and it became apparent that she was just as good an actress as they were when Xemnas and the gang had decided to pop by for a visit one afternoon.

“ _My girlfriend,_ ” Riku had said in unison with Axel’s, “ _My sister_.” He’d waited for it to be completely over then, for Xemnas to draw the conclusions that would lead to their immediate elimination, but Kairi had stood with the grace of a queen and had surveyed the lot of them with her hands on her hips as though she wasn’t scared out of her wits.

“ _Kairi_ ,” she said matter-of-factly, and then found a way to draw attention away from herself by way of Larxene’s high heels. “ _I love your shoes._ ”

Some things he would have liked to have forgotten, however, if only to believe that he wasn’t as tainted as he felt. Marluxia ranked high in this category. Riku wasn’t proud of anything he had done, but the pink-haired bastard ran his mouth a mile a minute when he had something pretty to play with. It was a strange method of gathering information, but DiZ would never know how Riku knew about the bank heists and trafficking runs, and that was fine by him. “ _You did what you had to do_ ,” Kairi had told him once, and that was all they’d ever said about it. Sometimes, it was just easier to pretend that you could forget.

He’d clung to those words like a prayer when Luxord had shown them that paper, that little piece of blackmail that would send it all to hell. They’d been set in stone when the bastard had actually had the nerve to touch Kairi, because he’d sworn up and down to himself that she wouldn’t have to see what really happened out there. Demyx had acted before him, but blind rage was no help and Demyx was on the ground before he did any actual damage. He’d jumped before thinking as well, and the rain had made the pavement slippery. He had no advantage, and he saw stars and felt the hood dent beneath his body.

The next thing he knew, Luxord had a knife pressed to Demyx’s throat and Kairi’s finger was pressed to the trigger of her handgun. Demyx wasn’t moving, wasn’t actually breathing, and there was blood trickling down his neck. Kairi’s hands were shaking and her eyes were wide. It was in slow-motion, it seemed, and he wasn’t quite sure when exactly he’d pulled out his own gun, but the thunder crashed above him and then Luxord was falling to the ground in a heap.

And there was blood. So much blood.

“ _Axel_ ,” Demyx had said breathlessly, reaching for Kairi and pulling her close. “ _Call Axel_.”

Riku’s hand almost wouldn’t move to his pocket, because his eyes were transfixed on the bloody sight before him and _fuck_ , it was _his_ fault. Oh god, what had he done?

“ _A-Axel… Oh, god, Axel, we…_ ” He’d stopped breathing then, when it hit him, what he’d done, and that was _Luxord_ dead on the ground before him, Riku’s bullet through his brain. It was storming, but it wasn’t rain trickling down his cheeks. “ _…I-I killed him_.”

They did what they had to do to stay alive, he remembered.

It was a month later when Death finally came to dance with him. Kairi had gone over to work at Demyx’s apartment, claiming that Axel’s cigarettes were bothering her. Demyx was supposed to be doing a run to Iowa, and Axel was dead to the world on the couch. He’d gone for a walk, that was all, just to go get dinner, because the Chinese place a couple of blocks over had the best sweet and sour chicken he’d ever tasted. Something went wrong somewhere between the corner of Brook and Mississippi Avenue and the Chinese place, because he’d just been walking along when someone grabbed him from behind, pressed a cloth over his mouth and nose, and he saw black.

When he came around, he was still seeing black, though he had a feeling that had something to do with being shoved in something small and dark instead of being unconscious. A long strip of what he supposed was duct tape had been pressed over his mouth. He tugged at his hands and found them bound tightly behind them, the rope cutting into his skin and feeling slowly ebbing out of his hands. He swallowed and forced himself to keep calm, even as the black seemed to close in around him and slowly press down on his lungs, shortening his breath as he considered all the possibilities, the foremost being that he had been buried alive.

Something shifted behind him, though, and then everything shifted, including himself, and he came to the realization that he was moving. He shifted and hit something hard and unforgiving, wincing when it drove his cell phone painfully into his thigh. The small LED light shone through his pocket, and a moment later, he heard Axel.

“ _Hey, man._ ”

He tried to make a sound, but the duct tape muffled his voice, and then he was sliding to the side again.

“ _Riku?_ ”

Shit! He shifted again, tried to make _some_ noise that would raise suspicion or something, but he slid back toward the spare tire again. He hit it, and the phone dug painfully into his thigh again, and the line went quiet, and despair settled in again.

It seemed like an eternity later when they stopped, and he heard the slamming of a couple of car doors. A moment later, somebody popped the trunk, and he found himself glaring up at Larxene’s smirk. “ _Morning!_ ” she chimed brightly, and Lexaeus reached in and hauled him up, dropping him painfully to the concrete. One of them kicked him onto his back and Larxene bent down and lifted his chin with a finger.

“ _Xemnas isn’t too happy with you_ ,” she had said with a little, terrifying giggle, and then straightened. A split-second later, she slammed her boot into his side, and a pained sound escaped Riku as he felt a rib or two crack and bruise.

Lexaeus yanked him to his feet, the motion sending pain shooting through Riku’s side, and dragged him into the warehouse, Larxene following. The smell of gasoline hit him when they walked through the door, and fear chilled every inch of him, now very sure about what was about to happen and very sure that it wasn’t going to be pleasant. The smell of gasoline grew stronger with every step that Lexaeus dragged him, and he noticed that the crates seemed to be doused around him, but the concrete floor was dry. Of course they wouldn’t want to get any gasoline on themselves. Being a walking bomb was probably not what they had in mind.

The whole gang wasn’t there waiting for him, at least. It was just Xemnas and Zexion waiting, and for a moment, Riku was confused as to why the latter was even there. That was before he saw the cigarette held in artistic fingers, already lit, and he swallowed. Xemnas was smiling, and he waved a gracious hand toward a rickety chair that seemed out of place in the warehouse. Riku apparently had no choice but to sit in it, Lexaeus’ large hands shoving him down in it and trapping his ankles to the legs of the chair with two pairs of handcuffs. The irony wasn’t lost on Riku.

“ _Well, well,_ ” Xemnas said, looking around at the crates drenched in gasoline. “ _You know the rules. Traitors must be eliminated._ ”

And that was the cue for Larxene and Lexaeus to take their leave, the former planting a kiss on Riku’s cheek and murmuring a bright farewell before she leaved to get clear of the warehouse and the fireball it was about to become. Zexion turned as well, taking a last drag of his cigarette before tossing it at a crate somewhere down the row, immediately igniting the first. He leisurely left as Xemnas approached Riku.

“ _Scared? Terrified, perhaps?_ ” the man asked as the second crate caught fire. “ _Hm. I wouldn’t know_ ,” he went on as though Riku had actually responded. “ _I don’t feel a thing._ ”

And then he was gone, and Riku was alone in the warehouse, watching as the fire spread rapidly around him, lighting crate after crate. In seemingly no time at all, it had spread so close that Riku could feel it, flames licking out and nearly burning him. The crates behind him caught as well, then spread to the crates on the other side and Riku was surrounded, left helpless and bound in a room of fire. His hands were working furiously at his bonds, but the lack of circulation made his fingers heavy. The fire crackled and cracked like a whip, and he heard a crate nearby creak and finally splinter, falling in a pile dangerously close to him. He swore behind the duct tape and attempted to scoot the chair to the side, managing to succeed only in falling over, which put him in a position of being close to the burning crates.

Another crate fell somewhere behind him, the heat on his back but not quite burning him yet, and his breath caught as he sucked in only smoke through his nose. He was too close to the fire now, only taking in smoke and not enough oxygen, his vision blurring. His head fell against the concrete as another crate fell to the ground somewhere, and he finally just closed his eyes as another crate smashed to the ground.

“ _Riku!_ ”

Shit, now he was hearing things too. Was he not allowed to die sane?

The duct tape was ripped from his mouth and his eyes opened slowly as he breathed in, only to cough again a moment later. His vision was still blurry, and he couldn’t see anything but smoke and flames, but he could swear it felt like someone was untying his hands, and a moment later, he could move his feet as well. The someone pulled him up, throwing Riku’s arm across his shoulders.

“ _I swear to God, if you die on me, I’m dragging your ass out of hell so you can explain it to my boss!_ ”

His legs were refusing to work, and the other was dragging him to the exit, dodging crates and flames. At one point, the other stumbled and nearly dropped him. “ _Shit, man_ ,” the smaller panted. “ _You’ve gotta help me out here. You can make it, asshole_.”

Riku set his jaw and opened his eyes as best he could, telling himself that he _could_ make it if he just got his shit together and got the fuck out of there. It was slow, much too slow than the situation called for, but somehow he made it out, and somehow the other managed to get him safely away before his vision finally escaped him, and the last thing he heard was the other swearing and leaving him there on the concrete.

Riku remembered surviving.

 


	12. Tonight, Tonight

The first thing that came out of Roxas’ mouth was an accusing, “You’re not telling us everything,” and he was right. Neither he nor Sora pressed the matter, however, so Riku just assumed that they either knew all of the blank spaces or were smart enough to fill them in. Some things, he figured, were best kept as secrets; Axel’s tattoos, for one, because Axel never needed to know, Marluxia, for another, because _no one_ ever needed to know. Some things they’d never even told each other, and secrets like that deserved to stay as skeletons in their closets, locked away in the dark, covered with dust and memories that didn’t fit them anymore.

Axel’s fingers were tapping a staccato on his leg when he spoke, obviously itching for the comforting feel of a cigarette while his other hand was occupied with his lighter. He’d never really kicked the habit, Riku knew, just fought back the addiction with sheer force of will and took the long way home to avoid driving by the drugstore. “So?” he said, finally, his voice sounding a little harsh in the quiet, distracting them from the monotonous hum of tires on asphalt. “How’d you keep us out of jail, then?”

“Not you, exactly.” Roxas twisted in his seat a little, looking back at them. “Just Riku and Kairi. Well, Demyx too,” he added as an afterthought.

“Luxord,” Riku realized, feeling a strange mix of emotions flicker to life in the pit of his stomach – anger and guilt just didn’t mix well.

The blond nodded. “And the banks. It’s amazing how little money it takes to make people forget.”

Sora glanced back at them in the rearview mirror. “You did what you did to stay alive and keep your cover. Immunity was all we could give you after you gave up undercover work.”

Axel shifted suddenly, switching his lighter to his other hand – meaning that fire was now precariously close to Riku – and throwing his other hand behind his head, elbow resting against the glass of the window. “Can you blame us? Three or four near-death experiences were plenty for me, thanks. What number are we on now anyway?”

“Six, I think,” Kairi said. “If you count Riku’s car exploding.”

“That shouldn’t count, we weren’t in it.” Riku suppressed a shudder at the thought, ‘ _What if they had been?’_ “And anyway, when did we start keeping count?”

Axel shrugged. “We’re not keeping count, really… We’re keeping score. Us versus death.”

“It’s a good thing we’re winning,” Kairi added from Riku’s other side. “Us, five; death, zip.”

“Go us,” Riku muttered. “So what’s the plan?”

Roxas and Sora looked at each other, then shrugged. Sora flashed them a sheepish smile over his shoulder. “We, um, don’t actually have one. With the whole ‘being compromised’ thing, we can’t exactly call for back-up or anything, so…” He blew out a rush of air that jostled one of his spikes. “We’re kind of… alone.”

“What about Leon?” Kairi asked. “We can trust Leon, can’t we?”

“We could if we knew he was still a-around the area,” Roxas said. Riku didn’t miss the falter in his voice, cataloging it away as another murder he could have caused. “We can’t get a hold of him.”

“He’s probably just laying low.” Confidence filled Kairi’s tone, though the wrinkle between her eyebrows gave away her concern. “I mean, if whoever you people are have been found out, then he’s probably not sure who he can trust right now either.”

“Oh, what a tangled web we weave.” Axel placed the hand holding the lighter over his heart.

Kairi reached across Riku and pinched him. “Shut up and focus, Axel.”

Maturely, the redhead stuck his tongue out in return. Riku wondered if this was what a mother of two felt like on a regular basis. And then he wondered something else.

“What about Naminé?” he asked aloud.

There it was, that dark cast to Sora’s features that morphed him from a dorky goofball to something far, far more dangerous. “Naminé…” He trailed off as Roxas let loose a heavy sigh, the blond’s shoulders drooping a little.

“At this point,” the blond said quietly, “we’re just hoping to find her in one piece.”

Kairi tensed beside Riku suddenly, her smaller hand flying to grip his arm, nails digging into his skin. He looked at her sharply.

“Sora,” he said as she focused on him, eyes wide in horror and her other hand covering her mouth. “Sora, I think you’d better pull over.”

“I’m okay!” Kairi insisted, though her voice sounded a little weak to Riku, as though she were in imminent danger of throwing up all over him, and wouldn’t that just make his fucking _month_? “I’m okay, just…” She took a deep, shuddering breath. “Just give me a minute to sort this out…”

“Sort what out?” Axel asked.

Kairi looked at Roxas, then to Sora, opening her mouth like she had all the answers – which she probably did. Then, she gave a shudder, and closed it again, motioning with one hand at the two in the front seat. “Explain,” she said shortly, and took another deep breath. “I’ll be okay.”

“Explain?” Roxas asked incredulously. “Where are we supposed to start?”

“How about at the beginning?” Axel flipped his lighter shut and leaned forward as far as his seatbelt would allow, an echo of a smirk on his face. “Fuck, that was cliché. Pretend I said something cooler.”

Roxas leaned back in his seat, crossing his arms, and seemingly taking the time to debate with himself. “Alright,” he finally said, “but we never had this conversation, understand?”

“What if we _did_ have this conversation?” Riku rolled his eyes. Only Axel would think to ask that question.

“Then you die a spiky virgin,” Roxas said, and Axel promptly shut up. Kairi huffed impatiently beside Riku, and she still looked a little bit shaky to him when she motioned for the blond to get started. “This whole mess actually started a couple of years ago, when the Organization first started getting big. They used to be on the east coast, you know? They relocated to St. Louis after Sora made off with their yacht.”

“The one you got caught-“

A loud, exasperated groan from Sora interrupted Riku’s question. “ _Yes_ , damn it…”

Roxas shook his head and went on. “The stupid boat had everything we needed to put everybody away for a long time, but Zexion had wired the boat to detonate at any given time.”

“Ugh, he’s always been a stuck-up little bastard,” Kairi threw in, and Riku figured that she was probably feeling better.

The blond nodded in agreement. “He’s no Larxene, but he’s smart enough to figure out how to blow shit up. He’d wired it to a cell phone, used a number for some pizza place as a trigger. We had everything scheduled down to the goddamned _second_ , had only so much time to get everything to the rendezvous and off-loaded before they realized it was missing and blew us up.”

“And then you got pulled over,” Riku concluded. “Threw off your timing and you bailed, losing every bit of the evidence, right?”

Roxas nodded firmly. “And it was all Sora’s fault.”

“It was _not_! If _you_ hadn’t been all, ‘Faster, Sora, go faster – ‘”

“Shut up, Axel,” Riku hissed as the redhead smirked.

“ – then I wouldn’t have been speeding in the first place!”

“Oh, _please_!” Roxas rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. “I didn’t tell you to do twenty above the limit, did I?”

“Uh, _yeah_ , you did!”

Kairi tapped Riku on the arm, watching the brothers bicker in the front seat, and leaned over to whisper, “Do Axel and I sound like this all the time?” Riku nodded with a shrug, and she pulled away thoughtfully. “Huh,” she said, looking over at Axel. “We’re kind of annoying.”

Axel grinned. “Nah, I think we’re kind of cute.”

“I’m not _cute_ ,” Roxas snapped. “Now do you want to know this or not?”

Riku was tempted to point out that they hadn’t been the ones arguing, but Roxas was already talking again, and his window of opportunity to piss the blond off was gone.

“Anyway, they figured out we were onto them, blew up the boat, and moved the whole operation to St. Louis. I don’t know how, but we lost track of them, and by the time we’d found them, they’d grown from five members to ten. They’d wised up to us, knew what we looked like and all, so…” He paused, tilting his head as though to look back at Kairi behind him through the seat. “…So we sent in one of our own.”

“Demyx,” Kairi confirmed, and Roxas twisted so that he could see her fully. “Don’t worry!” She raised a hand to stop whatever bitching and moaning was about to come out of his mouth. “He didn’t tell me, I figured it out. He’s good. If he had wanted to catch you, he could have. And you two appearing at the restaurant right after he left was perfectly coordinated. I’m guessing he called to tell you to get me out of there, hm? And how else did he know we were at Leon’s? Not to mention you being at the warehouse.”

Axel was the first to speak in the silence that followed. “…Well, damn,” he said. “I feel like an idiot.”

“You _are_ an idiot,” Riku replied, simply because Axel had clearly set himself up for it and Riku wasn’t one to let an opportunity like that just slide by – the earlier incident with Roxas notwithstanding. “But don’t worry, I feel like one too,” he added as an afterthought. Really, he should have known that. What the hell did he pay himself for? “Did you send him in to warn us too?”

“No,” Kairi replied before Roxas or Sora could. “That was Xemnas’ attempt to repay his debt. If we had accepted it, we’d have been able to move right along with our lives. As it is, I don’t think he cares much about what anybody owes him anymore. All he cares about is that ledger.”

Roxas threw up his hands, exchanging a disbelieving look with Sora. “Well, what the hell do you need _us_ for?”

“Confirmation,” Kairi went on. “I’ve got a couple of hunches.”

“Go ahead,” Sora said, with a small grin, apparently amused by her.

The redhead shifted, crossing her legs and kicking Riku in the process. “Alright. You’ve been watching us. Leon gave me the laptop, I have the pictures and transcripts copied in places you wouldn’t even dream of looking, so don’t even try.” In truth, she really only had the copies saved to her jump drive, but sometimes a little bluff went a long way, and Kairi had a hell of a poker face. “I’m going to say that you either don’t trust us or you want something else for us.”

“Wrong!” Sora chimed semi-cheerfully – and Riku briefly wondered about the state of their situation if Sora couldn’t muster up some fake-cheer – as Roxas shot him a warning glance.

“Sora, I swear to God, if you say anything else…”

“Someone’s a little bit obsessed with someone else,” the brunet finished, cocking his head meaningfully at Roxas.

Kairi gave Axel an odd look. “…Well, that explains the pictures,” she said finally.

“ _What_ pictures?” Riku and Axel said together, though Riku looked vaguely disturbed, while Axel looked more than a little interested.

“Those were taken in the name of surveillance!” Roxas insisted, though he was rapidly turning a red to rival a tomato.

“Aw, you’ve been stalking me, Roxy?” Axel cooed, looking much too pleased with himself. Really, Riku thought, the whole situation was a little bit creepy.

“ _No!_ I was _not_ , and _don’t_ call me _Roxy_ , damn it!” Roxas huffed and slid down in his seat, apparently content to sulk over the whole matter. He couldn’t, it seemed, resist taking revenge. “…Sora stalked _Riku_ ,” he muttered, in a way that briefly reminded Riku of being eight again.

And then Riku realized that _Sora_ had been _stalking_ him, and he suddenly got why Axel was grinning. He smirked and caught Sora’s eye in the rearview mirror, delighting in the blush that spread across the brunet’s cheeks.

Kairi cleared her throat.

“That doesn’t explain anything but the naked pictures of Axel,” she said.

Roxas overcame his pouting enough to reply. “It really was for your own safety,” he said, “as well as surveillance.”

“The naked pictures were just a perk of the job?”

“Shut up, Axel. We were worried that the Organization would be targeting you, but we only ever saw Demyx around.”

Kairi frowned. “The only time I saw him was when he came in to warn us about the hit,” she said quietly, as though simply thinking aloud.

Roxas shrugged. “He’s good at not being seen. He did a lot of watching out for you.”

A silence passed that none of them really knew what to make of, as Kairi brushed her hair back and graced some far-off thought with a sweet smile. “So,” she said finally, “what about the disc?”

It took a moment for Roxas to answer. “…This is the part of conversation that we never had,” he said carefully. “I’m actually starting to get – God help me – _fond_ of you three, and I’d hate to have to kill you now.”

“Very fond, apparently,” Axel threw in, leering at Roxas like they weren’t talking about potential death.

“ _Shut up_ , Axel,” Roxas hissed, though to Riku, he was starting to sound less venomous and more put-upon than anything. “The disc is… We got information from Demyx that they were shipping something important to a contact in L.A. We don’t know who exactly, but we’ve got a couple of leads-“

“And that’s a whole different case altogether, and doesn’t involve you guys at all,” Sora said with a half-hearted smile.

“Whatever. The point is that the disc has _everything_.” Roxas motioned to the black bag on the floor between Axel’s legs. “What’s in there will put the entire Organization away for life. Possibly longer. So we moved in and I got a job at the shipping company to keep an eye out for it. When it came through, I grabbed it and we ran.”

“You know,” Axel said, “you guys do a lot of theft for being good guys.”

Roxas smirked a little at that, but it just wasn’t the same as usual. “We’re kind of… outside the law. We work in shades of gray.”

“We thought…” Sora trailed off. “We thought we’d have more time to move Naminé out, but then she went to you guys. Next thing we knew, she was just… gone.” He paused another moment. “…Anyway, the disc is encrypted, most of it. The only thing we really made sense of was the ledger, and from that, we can guess at what the rest of it is… and it really should just stay hidden.”

“Must be a hell of a drug to rack up prices that high,” Axel mused.

To Riku’s surprise, Kairi blanched again and took a deep breath. “It’s not drugs, Axel,” she said quietly, a look of disgust crossing her face. “It’s… Do you know how much a good kidney will go for on the black market?”

Silence followed her statement. Axel’s hand stopped moving on his lighter and he simply stared at her, mouth partly open in a look of horror as what she had said sunk in. Riku closed his eyes and grimaced, feeling his stomach rebel at the barrage of thoughts and mental images, and forced himself to think of something else for a moment – Chubchub and Honey Smacks, his crappy kitchen, and his to-do list to fix up his apartment. Finally, with his mind a little bit clearer, he opened his eyes again.

“My god,” Axel muttered. “Shit. Fucking sick bastards. Those poor…” He stopped, and a look of pain crossed his face as he looked at Roxas and Sora.

“They kept it hidden from us,” Kairi said, sounding a little bit shaky again. “It was running while we were in, but we never got _in_ enough to learn about it.”

“Thank God for small favors,” Riku replied quietly, allowing a small shudder to ripple through him as he thought of Naminé and her quiet smile. “Well?” He lifted his head and looked at the two in the front seat and the road past them. “What now?”

Roxas shrugged again, looking to Sora. “We find a hotel and some food,” the brunet said, his shoulders squaring. “After that, we get some sleep.”

“And tomorrow?” Kairi asked.

“Tomorrow,” Sora went on. “…I’m not sure yet. But whatever it is, we can’t do it hungry and tired. We can figure the rest out later, but somehow, we’ve got to get you guys somewhere safe.”

Food didn’t sound too appealing to Riku at the moment, but by the time they found an interstate town, it probably would be. Sleep sounded good. Safety sounded even better.

 

The hotel wasn’t as crappy as the last, but it was no Holiday Inn. There was a gas station next door that advertised Krispy Kremes in the window, and Riku didn’t say anything at first when Axel returned with a baker’s dozen in one hand and a pack of Marlboros in the other.

“Those things will kill you, Axel,” Kairi sighed, but she took the donuts as a sort of peace offering. Riku got a strange feeling of déjà vu.

 _“If I’m lucky, they’ll hurry up about it_.”

Axel kept his silence, but offered an apologetic smirk as he lit one and strolled out the door with a little wave, clearly intent on either finding the bar downstairs, Roxas, or both. Kairi rolled her eyes after him and flopped down onto the bed with her donuts and the laptop that she had been granted tentative access to.

“You want my phone?” Riku asked.

She shook her head and opened the laptop. “Don’t worry about me,” she said, waving him away. “Go make out with Sora and leave me to my donuts and codes. I’ll be fine. Oh!” The box of donuts was thrust at him. “Take one for the road, I can’t really eat all thirteen by myself.”

“Just twelve, huh?” Riku took one and laid the phone on the bed beside her – just in case.

“I’ll save one for Axel.” Kairi smiled and waved him away again. He closed the door behind him and set off down the hall for the room that Sora and Roxas were sharing, passing Roxas along the way.

“Axel’s at the bar,” Riku told him, because he obviously wasn’t with Roxas, and if he wasn’t about to go to Sora, Riku would be drinking too. Roxas nodded and changed directions, walking toward the stairs, and looked slightly embarrassed at having been caught in the act of searching out the redhead.

Roxas paused as Riku lifted a hand to knock on the door separating him from Sora. “Hey,” he called down the hall, and Riku looked over. “He’s…” Roxas blew out a sigh and ran a hand through his hair. “He’s not happy. Cheer him up, and if you make it worse, I’ll kill you.” He turned and took the stairs two at a time, and that was that.

Riku knocked, and the door opened to reveal a Sora that didn’t look very… Sora-ish. “Hi,” the brunet said and mustered up a smile, though it was clear to see that he wasn’t in the mood for anything that even _resembled_ happiness.

“Hey,” Riku replied, walking in when Sora stood aside to let him pass. He sat down on the edge of one of the beds, lifting an eyebrow at the four laptops plugged into the same surge protector and fighting for space on top of the small table.

“Those don’t exist,” Sora said, waving at the laptops, and Riku decided that he didn’t see them.

“What doesn’t exist?” Riku didn’t get the smile that he had hoped for, but he did get Sora sitting on the bed beside him. He was close enough that Riku could reach over and pull him into a one-armed embrace – because Riku was too manly to cuddle, of course – and Sora let out a sigh before leaning against the detective fully, burying his face in Riku’s shoulder. “…Sora?”

“I’m sorry,” the brunet said, his words barely audible through Riku’s shoulder. “It’s all my fault, Riku, I’m so sorry…”

He wasn’t crying, but by the sound of his voice, he was close. Very close, and that was bad. Riku didn’t do well with crying, and he was pretty sure that he’d just suck royally with a crying Sora. “Hey, it’s okay,” he said, because that’s what Axel said to Kairi, and Axel was good with crying, though he really wasn’t sure if it was okay after all.

“No, it’s not!”

Apparently, it wasn’t okay.

Sora’s face turned so that his voice was clearer, but his breath was hot on Riku’s neck. “If I hadn’t lost the yacht,” he said, his voice still choked, and shit, what would Axel do if it were Roxas about to cry? “If I hadn’t lost the yacht, they’d all be in jail. You never would have even _heard_ of the Organization. You’d be safe, we’d be safe, and Naminé would be fucking _alive_ , Riku…”

Riku had once considered becoming an architect, a long time ago, when he couldn’t decide which college to go to and what to study. He’d had talent, they’d told him, he would have been good at it. Kairi had once thought about going into teaching; she was good with kids. Axel had always thought he’d wind up working in a tattoo parlor or living on Riku’s couch. But Riku had wanted to make a difference somewhere. Kairi loved computers. Axel was an adrenaline junkie at heart.

If it were Roxas about to cry on Axel’s shoulder, Axel would probably say the right thing, something romantic and cheesy that would make it all better in a flash. That was how Axel was. “Then I wouldn’t have met you,” or something like that.

Riku wasn’t Axel.

“Sora,” he said, and lay back on the bed, pulling Sora with him and leaving their legs dangling off the edge. “We could have done things differently. We could be safe, and things could be different. I could be designing buildings somewhere in New York. You could be halfway across the world, and Naminé could be home, doing whatever it is she does. But we’re not. We _didn’t_ do things differently.”

Sora’s weight was heavy against his side, and the brunet’s arm curled across his chest, fingers splayed across his shirt just beneath his throat. Brown hair tickled his neck and a sigh ghosted across his skin.

“I killed someone, Sora. I robbed banks, and I shot good people, and I did many things that I’m not proud of. I can’t change it. I want to, but I can’t, and there’s nothing I can do about it now.” The brunet’s fingers clenched in his shirt, gripping the material tightly. “I could have done something else, but I didn’t. And I can either sit here and wish for the invention of a time machine or I can move on and deal with what I have now, and maybe make the right choice this time, you know? We need to work with what we’ve got.”

Sora was silent for a long time, but he wasn’t crying. He simply lay next to Riku and breathed, fingers still curled into the material of Riku’s t-shirt, and Riku let him be. Finally, he shifted, pressing a small kiss to the side of Riku’s neck. “I get it,” he said. “We’ll be okay.”

Riku smiled and rubbed his hand down Sora’s back, and for a brief moment, it really did seem like everything was going to be okay.

 

The knock came some time after midnight. Riku jolted awake to a pounding on the hotel door, Kairi stirring beside him with a mumbled protest, and Axel rolled off the bed and came up ready to shoot. Kairi sat up and turned on the lamp on the side table, looking between the two of them. The pounding ceased for a brief moment before starting up again a moment later with a vengeance.

Axel was the first to move, checking out the peephole in the door before throwing open the door and pulling the man inside. Kairi was across the room before Axel even got the door closed and locked again, her face buried in Demyx’s neck, holding him tightly enough that the man had to be having trouble breathing. The blond was a mess, dried blood in his hair and his clothing ripped in places.

“We’ve got to move _now_ ,” he said. “Larxene figured me out; Zexion’s been tracing the calls.” He ran his fingers through Kairi’s hair and looked from Axel to Riku. “Get Sora and Roxas and I’ll meet you in the parking lot.”

There was no time to pack. Demyx was out the door with Kairi and Axel and Riku were after their own significant others, running down opposite ends of the hallway. Axel reached it first and slammed his shoulder against it, forcing the door open with frightening ease – they really needed to start looking for safer hotels.

“Roxas!” he yelled as Riku called out for Sora, reaching for the light switch.

He flipped it and found himself face-to-face with Larxene’s gun. “Evening, boys.”


	13. Don't Cry

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so, I didn't tag "Major Character Death" for a reason. Because it's not a detective fic if you don't have at least one almost-death scare.

Before Riku could so much as blink, Larxene’s French tips were fisted in the collar of the ratty t-shirt he’d worn to bed and he was being yanked forward, into the room with the gun pressed just underneath his chin. Axel moved forward as if to stop her, but paused as she stepped back a pace, dragging Riku with her.

“Come on in, Red,” she said sweetly, and Riku watched Axel’s eyes dart between her and Riku, his jaw tightening. “And close the door behind you.”

Axel kicked the door closed behind him and took a step inside, his eyes darting just beyond Larxene. Larxene took another step back, taking Riku with her. Riku glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and saw the way his jaw was clenched, his gaze cool and even on Larxene, with his hands in his pajama pants pockets like he was looking for his lighter. It was like a neon sign. Axel was _pissed_ , and Riku knew the only thing that could make him _that_ mad was…

He looked, just past Larxene’s shoulder, and yeah, there was Roxas, sitting on the bed with his hands tied behind his back, a bruise rapidly darkening on the side of his forehead. Beside him was Sora’s form, slumped boneless on the blankets. It looked like Larxene hadn’t even bothered to tie Sora up, but from the looks of things, she probably wouldn’t need to.

“So this is how we’re playing the game, huh?” Axel said. “Execution-style, all lined up in a neat little fucking row.”

“Orders are orders,” Larxene said. “Have a seat.” She stepped to the side and Riku went with her, the gun pressed to his chin not really giving him any kind of say in the matter. Axel moved past them and sat by Roxas, one hand sliding behind the blond’s back as though to comfort. Larxene yanked Riku against her, arm tight around his neck, tight enough that he was actually having trouble taking a breath. “Hands where I can see ‘em, Red. Nice try.”

Axel’s hands moved back to cross across his chest, plans foiled. Of course it couldn’t be that easy, Riku thought. Nothing was ever that easy. Larxene’s grip on his neck loosened, just a little.

“So,” the redhead said, shoulder pressed to Roxas’. The blond’s eyes were intent on Riku, and if Riku didn’t know any better, he would have said that Roxas were starting to panic a little. “What’s a bitch like you doin’ in a nice place like this?”

Larxene smiled – Riku could tell by the way Axel’s eyes narrowed even further. “Cute. Real cute, Red. Aren’t you just the brave little hero, all arrogance and scathing _wit_?” Her tone was mocking, but Axel kept his gaze unwavering on her. Larxene’s lips curved into a smirk; Riku could feel it on his neck, sending chills down his spine as dread began pooling in the pit of his stomach. “It’s too bad you were just a sidekick, Axel,” she said. “You would have made a _fantastic_ leading man.”

She raised the gun and fired in the instant it took for Riku to realize what was going to happen and Axel to open his mouth to deliver a retort, a startled cry escaping him instead. Roxas jolted with a yell, sliding off the edge of the bed and onto the floor, Axel following him down. Riku twisted out of Larxene’s grasp, her nails digging across his shoulder until he broke free and crossed the seven steps between himself and the bed with his heart in his throat.

“ _Fuck!_ ” Roxas ground out passionately, tossing his head back onto the bed. “Shitfuckdamnmother _fucker_!”

Axel pressed his hand to the blood leaking through Roxas’ shirt, and Riku breathed a short-lived sigh of relief when he saw that it was only a shoulder wound, and barely one at that. In all honesty, it looked as though the bullet had simply grazed him, but he was sure it still stung like a bitch. He stood, leaving Axel on the floor next to Roxas, and turned to look at Larxene, placing himself carefully between his friends and the gun in her hand.

“But this is no movie,” the blonde went on, like she was discussing the weather, like she hadn’t just shot Roxas in cold blood.

“Stop fucking around and get to the point, Larxene,” Riku growled.

Her gaze shifted from Axel and Roxas on the ground to Riku standing protectively in front of them… directly in the sights of the gun. “You’re looking a little bit annoyed there, detective,” she said lightly. “I’m sorry I missed.” She slowly, deliberately moved to put the gun back on Roxas – or, rather, on Axel, who quickly moved to shield the blond. “I’d love to see your reaction to one right between his eyes.”

Riku _knew_ it was a test, just a gamble to see how far Riku would go, how much power she currently had over him, and he failed it, putting himself back between the gun and his friends. “I said,” he replied quietly, “to stop fucking around.”

“Oh, sweetie,” Larxene practically purred, and he could _see_ the delight in her eyes, just how much she was enjoying this. “You’d be _great_ in a paperback novel. All false bravado and sacrifice… but you don’t _get_ it.” She jerked the gun suddenly to Sora, motionless on the bed, and he followed. She flat-out grinned in glee. “ _You_ still think that Demyx is going to bust in and save your ass? That Little Red’s gonna come rushing in, guns blazing, and save the day?”

The cold, sick feeling that had been building in Riku’s belly was beginning to solidify and become one heavy, leaden weight. _Yes_ , Riku had been thinking that, had been counting on it, and he was pretty sure that Kairi should have been frantic by now. She was smart. She would have known something had gone wrong.

“See,” Larxene went on, like he actually wanted to hear it. “The thing about Demyx is that we can’t _touch_ him. We can’t lay a single finger on him, can’t even _breathe_ in his direction. Without him, we’d never have gotten as far as we have. As we’re _going_ to get. So, when we figured him out… and that was hard, you know, he’s a fucking _genius_ , covered his tracks beautifully… we gave him a choice.” Her mouth rolled over the word “choice,” like it was something to be revered, to be cherished. “We gave him a _chance_. This?” She waved an arm around the hotel room, gesturing to Roxas bleeding on the floor, Sora unconscious on the bed, and Riku standing between them and a gun. “This was his decision. This time next week, he’ll be living the good life in France with his pretty little slut. And you’ll be _dead_.”

“He sold us out,” Axel breathed.

Riku… couldn’t breathe. Everything was suddenly clear, suddenly so very _bad_ , and he could hear Demyx’s words echoing in his mind over and over like a broken record. “ _You fuck this up for me, and I’ll put you six feet under myself_.”

“In a heartbeat,” Larxene confirmed brightly. She shifted, sliding a hand inside her jacket, and, for a moment, Riku wondered how he was going to shield his friends when she had _two_ guns. Then the CD came into view, glinting in the crappy lighting of the room.

“Mother _fucker_ ,” he heard someone whisper behind him, and yeah, that was about how he felt.

“And as you can see,” Larxene continued, “you’re kind of useless now.” She slid the CD back into whatever pocket it had come from and leveled the gun. Riku knew she wasn’t going to miss this time. “Anything left to say, detective?”

A million and a half possible last words drifted through his mind in the span of a few long seconds. He could, of course, go the _Lifetime_ way and turn around to profess his everlasting True Love™ for Sora, but Sora was unconscious still, and why waste the words when they would just fall on deaf ears? And he sure as hell wasn’t about to beg for mercy or anything, like she probably wanted to, which left only one logical option, really.

He smirked, straightened with a confidence he didn’t feel, and flipped her the bird. “Fuck. You.”

Larxene grinned, aimed, and fired. Something slammed into Riku’s side and he stumbled as pain ripped through his arm. Another shot and he hit the floor hard, something warm and soft rolling on top of him. There was a crash and a bang that didn’t belong to a gun. One more shot rang out, and he heard, through the haze of confusion and pain, someone let out a strangled scream.

Seven steps away, Larxene hit the ground.

The something rolled off of Riku and attempted to pull him up. He blinked at it for a minute before realizing, hey, _Sora_ , warm and alive and looking at him with panic and fear. Riku looked down at his arm, and there was his wonderful luck rearing its head again, because he’d only been grazed. Again. At least _something_ was going… well, not right, but pretty okay, even if he’d rather not have been shot at in the first place.

He pulled himself up off the ground with the help of Sora’s hand wrapped around his, and took in Sora’s wide blue eyes and the bruises blossoming up the left side of the brunet’s face. He ran one hand down Sora’s cheek, gingerly feeling where Larxene, he assumed, had pistol-whipped him.

“I’m alright,” Sora told him. “And you-“

“Just a scratch,” Riku replied. “Looks like we’ll live.”

Sora nodded, and he didn’t let go of Riku’s hand.

“Christ,” Axel said, and Riku turned to look at his friend helping Roxas to his feet, pressing one of the towels from the bathroom to the blond’s shoulder. “Cutting it a little close there, don’t you think?” He looked at the door with a glare that was completely ruined by the relief written all over his face.

Riku followed his gaze and couldn’t help the relieved grin that spread across his face when he saw Demyx standing there, sliding the gun back into his jacket. “You’re on the third floor, dude. I was in the parking lot by the time I realized something was up. If it makes you feel any better, I freaking _sprinted_ up here, and now my side hurts.”

Axel shrugged. “Yeah. It kind of does make me feel better. A little.”

“You’re welcome,” Demyx replied dryly. “I can _totally_ die happy now that my pain gives you joy. Everybody stable enough to get to my van?”

Riku nodded. “We’re alive.”

“It’s not that bad, Axel, I can fuckin’ _walk_ ,” Roxas insisted from the other end of the bed, and Riku watched with interest as Axel attempted to convince Roxas to let the redhead carry him. Finally, Axel gave up and settled for keeping one hand tight on Roxas’ shoulder, and it didn’t look like Roxas was about to shake him off anytime soon. Axel, Riku knew, needed to be close, needed to be absolutely _sure_ that Roxas was alive, for the exact same reasons that Sora was still holding his hand in a death grip.

“Where’s Kairi?” Riku asked when he realized that she wasn’t standing behind Demyx.

The blond jerked a thumb over his shoulder. “Parking lot, messing with my radio, I’ll bet.” He shifted, turning so that he was mostly facing the exit. “We better hurry… she probably didn’t come alone.” He looked down briefly, at Larxene’s body in a pool of blood on the floor, before looking back up at them evenly.

“Don’t suppose you took up smoking recently?” Axel asked. “’Cause I think I’d ki- do just about anything for a cigarette.”

Demyx shook his head and quirked an eyebrow at him. “Thought you quit, dude.” Nonetheless, he pulled Axel’s lighter out of one pocket. “Kairi grabbed it off the nightstand when she grabbed her purse.”

“But she didn’t grab my smokes, did she?” Axel sighed. “We’ll stop at a gas station on the way to… wherever the hell we’re going.”

“Far away from here,” Demyx said. “Very far away.”

“How far away?” Sora asked.

“I’ve got number 424 lined up, ready and waiting for us.” Demyx looked down at Larxene one more time, then opened the door fully behind him. “I’ve also got someone on the way to clean this up… Figured something might go down, but I wasn’t sure what.”

“You’re such a good little boy scout,” Axel replied. “Let’s get the hell out of here.”

They had to step over Larxene’s body to get to the door, but it seemed that Sora was absolutely refusing to let go of Riku’s hand – not that Riku particularly minded, of course. Demyx closed the door behind them, the electronic light flashing red briefly, and they set off for the parking lot. The hallway was silent, which… actually threw Riku off a little bit. Wouldn’t there have been other guests on the floor? He knew that hotel rooms weren’t exactly soundproofed. It struck him as odd.

Sora stumbled, distracting him. “You alright?” Riku asked. Sora nodded, just as Riku thought of something else. “When did you come around? You were-“

“No, I wasn’t,” Sora replied, shrugging. “I was awake the whole time. Element of surprise and all that. It’s amazing how many people fall for that trick.” He gave Riku a strained grin, and Riku suddenly very much wanted to see Sora’s _real_ smile, the one that he’d first seen while sitting on a curb, being patched up with Strawberry Shortcake bandages.

“Cheer up,” Riku said, bumping a shoulder with Sora’s. “We’re alive.”

“We’re not safe, though,” Sora replied. “Not yet.”

The detective shrug. “I’ll take what I can get.”

“You can _get_ moving a little bit faster,” Demyx said over his shoulder. “I’ve got a bad feeling. You two can make out in the car.”

“Hey, Rox, can _we_ make out in the car?” Axel asked, grinning at the blond, who simply rolled his eyes.

“I swear to God,” Demyx said, shaking his head as he pushed open the glass door to the lobby. “You people are the weirdest group of-“

Sora stopped him. “Demyx,” he said, looking around and slowing to a halt, still holding Riku’s hand. “Was there a night clerk on when you came in?”

Demyx paused as well, looking over at the empty counter. “…Yeah, there was,” he replied.

Riku looked around the lobby, finding it completely empty and silent. It was only half past one, there should have been at least a few night owls out and about, and he was sure he’d seen a sign that advertised the bar didn’t close until three. There was no bartender, no bellhops, nothing at all.

Oh, he had a _bad_ feeling about this.

“Run for it,” Roxas hissed, and they took off in near-unison, and Riku was sure he could hear harsh laughter trailing after them.

The first shot shattered the glass windows of the front door, and Sora’s hand tightened on his as they ran. The second took out another window close, but not dangerously so, to the group sprinting for the exit, and Riku knew then that they were shooting to scare, not to kill.

“Third row!” Demyx shouted.

Riku didn’t even bother pushing the door open, just jumped through the hole left by the broken glass after Sora, the brunet’s hand slipping from his grasp. They hit the parking lot at a dead run, feet slapping against the asphalt in a strange, fear-driven rhythm. Riku could see the Prius only a few spaces away, waiting, and Sora was just a few feet ahead, the others just a few feet behind, and he _knew_ they were going to make it, going to pull a miracle just _one more ti_ -

Sora turned suddenly and tackled him to the ground. Riku hit the pavement hard and the world around him erupted into a violent, chaotic mess of noise and fire, surrounding him. Only moments later, the world quieted, leaving only the ringing in his ears and the weight of Sora holding him to the ground in desperation. Sora sat up, off of Riku, and the detective stood shakily, unable to tear their eyes away from the flames engulfing what was left of Demyx’s Prius. He couldn’t breathe, and he could feel the heat of the fire which meant he was too close, and it suddenly hit him, _really_ hit him. He was running before he knew it, before he could process it, because she was still in there and he had to get her out, had to-

Sora caught him around the waist and they both went down again, Riku fighting him all the way. He twisted, tried to get out of Sora’s hold, but the brunet clung desperately and Riku’s arm was still stinging and burning, and he’d never been good at fighting anyway. Sora grabbed his face in his hands, turning his eyes away from the fire and back to too-bright blue, wet with unshed tears and irritated by the smoke. He knew it then, that there was no chance, and the knowledge sank straight down to his core and filled him completely, leaving him with nothing but an impossible tightness in his chest and denial playing on loop in his mind – _“No, God, please, she can’t be, no, no, no_.”

She was gone.

Sora pulled him close as the footsteps sounded nearby, stuttering to a slow, disbelieving halt. Riku buried his face in Sora’s neck and breathed in a shuddering breath, trying desperately to somehow block out Demyx yelling her name over and over again, like it was some kind of prayer. He let his head drop back to the pavement, not caring that it hurt, and watched the smoke curl up into the night sky.

Another set of footsteps sounded, slow and deliberate this time. Sora shifted off of Riku and stood, with Riku following suit though he felt despair begin to settle in. Demyx was standing only a few feet away, and it didn’t look as though he’d be standing for much longer, the expression on his face a mirror of everything Riku was feeling inside, magnified by thousands. Roxas still had his arms wrapped around Axel’s waist like he was terrified that the redhead would go jumping into the inferno, and Riku briefly supposed that he probably would if given half the chance, just by the look of devastation on his face.

“It’s a shame,” the detective heard as he turned to face the footsteps, away from the burning car. Marluxia was watching him with a smirk that gave his despair an edge of razor-sharp anger, and he clenched his fists at his side. Marluxia just went on. “If you had only listened, detective, this tragedy could have been avoided.” He waved one hand at the car.

“I’ll kill you,” Riku snarled, and he _meant_ it, every last word.

“I didn’t do a thing.” The bastard was still smirking. “Looks like Larxene got her revenge in the end, though.”

Riku could see the silver and black slipping out of the shadows to surround them. He clenched his jaw, and it was all he could do not to lunge forward to wipe that smirk right off of Marluxia’s face, but the lackeys were closing in fast. He stepped closer to Sora, putting himself between the Organization member and the brunet.

“Roxas!” he heard Axel shout, and looked back to see that they already had Axel and Roxas held with guns to their heads, being pulled away from each other.

Seconds later, Sora was yanked from him with a shout and rough hands were wrenching his arms behind him. He heard the rip and tear of duct tape, and he knew, right then, that it was over. A gun forced his head up, reminiscent of the way Larxene had held him only, what, fifteen minutes before. Marluxia stepped closer and ran one gloved hand along Riku’s cheek, pausing with his thumb over the detective’s mouth in a manner that Riku remembered from long, dark nights from the year before.

Marluxia took a step back. “Pity,” he said, and looked toward the burning Prius again. “She had a lovely mouth too.”

Riku lunged before he really thought about, not caring about the gun, the hands holding him, or the fact that his hands were tied behind his back. Marluxia just laughed when they hauled him back painfully, earning himself a few new bruises for the trouble.

“Put them in the same van,” Marluxia said, and turned away. “Keep an eye on them all at the same time.”

Riku watched him walk away as they hauled him backwards, towards one of the vans that he hadn’t even noticed before. They shoved him in unceremoniously, and he landed on top of someone who let out a loud rush of air, and just before they closed the door, he caught one last look at the flames and felt his heart sink somewhere deep into the recesses of the darkness.

He knew, right then, that it was over.


	14. Landslide

Riku met Kairi in the summer before second grade, at the magnificent age of seven-and-two-months. It had, so far, been a summer rife with boredom as his usual partner-in-crime was currently being held hostage at the pure evil that was summer school. Axel would, of course, be home sometime around two in the afternoon, but that left an _entire day_ during which Riku had to entertain himself. 

The moving van that pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building that fateful morning had promised many things - mainly new victims for water balloons. It was when they begin pulling out things like a bicycle and boxes marked "TOYS" that he began to think that this could possibly be the cure to his boredom; there was a kid moving in. 

He'd never been more disappointed to see a bright pink dresser in his life. 

Axel came home at about the same time Riku headed out to play in the tiny playground behind the apartment building. To his surprise and dismay, the monkey bars had already been claimed by a girl, daringly hanging upside-down and humming. Riku felt a flare of jealousy, as well as flash of resignation. One, he couldn't hang upside-down. Two, she was a girl, and therefore couldn't be played with.

"Hi!" she said, waving when she saw them. Her bright red pigtails swung with the breeze. "Wanna play?"

"No!" Axel replied emphatically.

Her little brow furrowed. "Why not?"

"You're a girl," Riku said as though the answer was obvious - and to him, it was. Axel didn't play with girls, so Riku didn't play with girls. That was all there was to it.

She swung up to grab the bars and right herself, dropping to the gravel with practiced ease. Riku had to admit, it was impressive. She put her hands on her hips, pink nail polish catching the afternoon sunlight, and demanded, " _So?_ "

"So you can't play with us!" Riku explained as though it were obvious. “Girls are gross,” he said as Axel looked on approvingly.

And then she tackled him.

He came out half an hour later, after his mother had stopped the blood flow from his nose, and she taught them how to swing upside-down on the monkey bars.

 

The drive was silent.

There was nothing to say, Riku thought. Nothing that _could_ be said, really, that wouldn’t sound hollow and empty, a tiny Band-Aid over a gaping, bleeding wound. Even if he could find the words… No, even if the words _existed_ , Riku wouldn’t have been able to choke them out past the insistent lump in his throat that wouldn’t vanish no matter how many times he swallowed. Sora was close to him, the side of his body pressed warm to Riku’s, just a small comfort for the brunet as much as it was for Riku. His eyes were closed, head resting not-quite on Riku’s shoulder, when Riku pulled free of his thoughts and turned his eyes away from much happier memories.

Roxas, he noticed, had managed to wedge himself as close to Axel as humanly possible, very nearly in the redhead’s lap, and it would have made Riku wonder if he hadn’t first noticed the way Axel’s face was completely hidden in blond hair. Roxas had his head on Axel’s shoulder, his own face turned into Axel’s neck, and Riku thought to himself – and his voice sounded dead and emotionless in his own head – that it would have been better, maybe, if Roxas hadn’t fought him so hard. He couldn’t tell if the slight tremors of Axel’s shoulders meant that the redhead was crying, and if he were, it was silent. He looked away, turned his eyes back to the darkness and tried not to see, because if Axel – their fucking _rock_ , cool and calm and _awesome_ under pressure – was breaking, then the whole world was falling to pieces beneath their feet.

Maybe, Riku thought, a little hysterically, maybe Axel would be able to repress this too. Maybe he’d be able to go out with a jester’s grin and walk through fire and think that Kairi was alive and well and safe and that, in that way at least, they had survived.

Demyx… Demyx was blank, eyes staring unseeing into the early morning darkness that filled the van and threatened to swallow them whole. Riku couldn’t tell what he was thinking, didn’t really want to be able to, though he was sure that his thoughts echoed with the same despair that filled Riku’s own. He didn’t know Demyx, didn’t know how to read the man like he could read Axel. He had just known an undercover agent who was nearing his breaking point. He had just known the idealized version of the man Kairi had loved.

Three hours after they had left the parking lot – after they had left _her_ behind – the van stopped. The sense of dread that had been growing ever since Naminé had stepped into his office dropped like a weighted stone in Riku’s stomach. Sora tensed beside him and edged just a little bit closer. Axel lifted his head from Roxas’ hair, dry-eyed. Roxas disentangled himself from the redhead, a hard set to his jaw. Even Demyx blinked out of his desolate stupor.

A minute passed. Ten. Fifteen.

“Help me up,” Sora whispered. Somehow, between the two of them, Sora managed to wriggle up onto his knees, just high enough to be able to see out the windows of the van’s doors. He flopped down a moment later. “They’ve got a couple of guards outside. Maybe a breakdown or something?”

Roxas shrugged, dropping his head back to Axel’s shoulder. “Sora, they take your knife?”

Sora shook his head, managing a smile that was _nothing_ compared to the one Riku loved to see – tight in the corners and forced. “Gimme a minute.” He shifted, twisting in ways that Riku cringed at, especially when he was pretty sure he heard every vertebrae in Sora’s back pop. Finally, Sora managed to bend just enough that he could slip his legs through the hole his arms made, putting his bound hands in front of him. He reached down and fumbled with his shoe, finally able to slip his fingers and finagle out a small pocket knife.

“…You’re kidding, right?” Axel said, disbelief coloring his tone. “That’s so cliché. They can’t have _not_ thought of that.”

“Did you think of it?” Roxas retorted, and there was absolutely none of the scorn behind it that Riku had been so used to hearing. “Not that it’ll do anything against Tweedledee and Tweedledum’s semi-automatics out there.”

“We’ll think of something,” Sora said, and hadn’t Riku just been thinking about hollow, empty words not twenty minutes before? “Turn around.”

Riku twisted, putting his back to Sora and his knife so that the brunet could saw through the duct tape. Immediately, Riku ripped the rest of it off, ignoring the sting as it effectively took every single hair off of his wrists and found that his breathing came just a little bit easier – he hated not having the use of his hands. Sora pressed the knife into his hands, that sad facsimile of a smile still on his face – it hurt to look at – and Riku freed his hands as well before setting about releasing everyone else.

“Alright, so here’s what we’ve got,” Roxas said once they were all situated and rubbing feeling back into their arms. “We have Sora’s knife, a lighter, and…”

“A screwdriver,” Axel added. “It’s been digging into my ass this whole time.” He held it up for emphasis.

“And a screwdriver. All of our outside contacts are officially unreachable or –“ He stopped, swallowed. “Unreachable,” he finished. “Any ideas?”

“The guards are at the back,” Demyx said after a moment of stretched silence. He sounded exhausted, voice rough and soft, and looked just as bad, scrubbing the back of his hand across his face. “This piece of junk has manual windows, so we could go out that way if we were quiet enough.”

Axel shook his head. “It wouldn’t work… There are cars in front of us, too. They’ll have us again in five minutes and it’ll piss Marluxia off enough to separate us, probably.”

“So what then?” Demyx snapped. “You wanna just sit and wait to die?”

“Don’t bite _my_ head off ‘cause _your_ idea’s suicidal, asshole,” Axel snapped right back.

“ _My_ idea’s suicidal? Whose great plan was this whole thing anyway?” Demyx hissed. “I don’t remember telling you to jump headfirst into this mess, so it sure as hell wasn’t mine.”

Axel stiffened. Roxas looked worriedly between them, as if unsure if he should step in or not. “You tryin’ to say something, Demyx?” The redhead’s voice dropped to a tone that Riku _knew_ meant trouble.

“I _warned_ you!” Demyx slammed a hand down on the floorboard. “I fucking _told_ you this would happen! You didn’t listen and now…” He stopped, and in that instance, Riku could see every bit of pain and bitter knowledge on his face. “Now she’s _dead._ ”

Riku’s mouth went dry and he suddenly found it hard to breath as his chest constricted painfully. Axel reeled back as though he’d been struck. Roxas slid between them, hands held out, placating, which was probably enough to keep Axel from lunging for Demyx’s throat, but wouldn’t get Demyx to _shut the hell up_.

“ _You_ killed her.” It seemed as though now that Demyx had started, there was no stopping him. “You didn’t _care_. I fucking told you they’d kill her and you didn’t care. You didn’t set the bomb, but you sure as hell put her in that car.”

And that was it. Something stretched taut in Riku just snapped, broke in half and whipped into the walls of his chest, stinging like a bitch and leaving something dark echoing through him. He moved before he was even aware of anything beyond the sudden wave of righteous, blinding rage, before anyone could react, and for the first time in his life, landed a perfect, solid punch, right to Demyx’s left eye.

He got a couple more good blows in before Sora and Roxas managed to pull him off, but they couldn’t hold him, and he had Demyx by the collar of his ripped and bloodied jacket in a moment, pretty sure that he was cutting off the blond’s air supply and not caring in the least.

“We were _there_ ,” he growled, and his face was barely an inch from Demyx’s. “We picked up every single fucking piece you broke when you left her behind, so don’t you _dare_.” He shook the blond, one good shake for emphasis. “Don’t you _dare_ say we didn’t care enough.”

Roxas and Sora pulled them apart again, and this time Sora wrapped himself firmly around Riku’s arm. Riku let himself be pulled away to sit sullenly beside Axel, who held his lighter clenched tightly in one hand.

“It’s no one’s goddamned fault,” Roxas said, looking from Axel and Riku to Demyx, who was nursing his eye. Yeah, Riku _hoped_ it fucking hurt. “No one but the Organization’s, and fighting each other sure as hell isn’t helping, especially since everyone out there probably just heard everything.”

“I’m _right_ ,” Demyx snarled.

Roxas rounded on him, one finger very close to his face. “Shut the hell up or _I’ll_ punch you,” he threatened, and Demyx finally, _finally_ closed his mouth. “So why don’t you put what little intelligence the three of you have collectively and try to figure a way out of-“

The van doors swung open. Demyx tumbled backwards, landing with a thud on the concrete at Marluxia’s feet. The man took a step back as the guards from before pulled the blond to his feet roughly. The bright light from Marluxia’s flashlight danced over them, pinning them in their place, and Riku’s jaw tightened as he winced away from the light.

“Not exactly good form,” Marluxia said, “fighting your own. Friendly fire is frowned upon, after all.” He glanced over at Demyx. “But then, you never really know who you can trust, can you?” He paused, studying them, flashlight pointed at Sora’s hands.

Where the knife was still visible, plain as day.

“Well, now, what do we have here?” Three different guns leveled at them, with Sora directly in the sights. “Grab them,” Marluxia ordered. “Put them in separate cars, I don’t care how you break them up, just _do_ it, and for God’s sake, check for weapons this time, idiots.”

Riku watched silently as they pulled Axel away from him, and couldn’t help the little bit of selfish relief at the thought that maybe he wouldn’t have to watch him die.

 

Kairi had given up knocking on Riku’s door at the age of twelve, mostly because his mother finally got tired of answering the door every morning when the early bed decided Riku needed to be graced with her presence at eight in the morning. She managed to find inventive ways to wake him up far earlier than he thought was really necessary nearly every Saturday morning until college, including, but not limited to, buckets of ice, fire extinguishers, loud music, Axel screaming, puppies, rubber chickens, pop music, and occasionally more of Axel screaming. It was one Saturday morning when he was sixteen that Kairi _didn’t_ wake him up, but he still rolled out of bed at half past eight, and he knew something was up.

So he padded up a flight of stairs to her apartment, padded back down to get a pair of pants before he scarred anyone else for life, and ran into Axel halfway there.

“My Kairi-senses are tingling,” the redhead yawned. His hair looked like it had at least had a brush run through it, which was more than Riku could say for his own.

“Creepy,” Riku yawned in response.

“Selphie called. Said something went down at the Sadie Hawkins’ last night,” Axel went on as they approached the door to her apartment.

“You got the shovels and a body bag?” Riku asked, and knocked on the door. He, at least, still had decorum, and didn’t go around bursting into people’s houses and Way Too Early in the morning.

They were surprised when Reno opened it. “Thank God,” he breathed, looking harried and vaguely annoyed. “I hate to say it, but I’m glad to see you two. Mom and Dad are on that stupid trip and I don’t speak teenage girl.” He let them in without a fuss, which was surprising, to say the least. “She’s still in bed,” he went on, closing the door behind them. “Let me know if I need to kill anyone.”Axel looked at Riku, seeming just a little bit panicked, because the world was officially _ending_ , and they headed down the hall.

They didn’t receive a response when they knocked on her door – decorated with a brightly painted wooden sign that she had made when she was eleven – but they went in anyway. It didn’t take long to figure out that the breathing lump under the covers was most likely Kairi, or else a really, really good sneaking-out-dummy, and they sat down on the bed gingerly.

“Hey, princess.” Axel laid a hand on the not-quite moving lump, deliberately using the nickname she usually whacked him upside the head for. She didn’t so much as move. “Rise and shine, morning glory.”

Riku peeled back the covers just a little where he was pretty sure her head was. Her face, blotchy and eyes red from crying, peered out at him from her cocoon. She sniffled rather pathetically. He mustered up the patented just-woke-up-teenager grin.

“We’ll skin him alive,” he said sweetly, and she smiled.

 

Riku opened his eyes as the sun was just coming up, painting the sky an odd assortment of pastels outside the small window of the crappy, ancient camper they’d been shifted to. He was aware of honking horns, his alarm clock of the day, and that the truck wasn’t moving. He lifted his head and blinked, surprised when his pillow shifted to accommodate him, and rubbed his eyes with one hand. “I fell asleep?” he asked, sitting up and finding that his pillow had been Sora’s thigh.

Sora nodded, face bright in the early morning light and expression that same pathetic attempt of a smile. “Rise and shine,” he said quietly. “We’re stuck in traffic.”

“Fantastic. If we had a Sharpie, we could write for help,” Riku replied, rubbing his eyes again and putting his back to the promise of a beautiful day outside. The sun didn’t have the right to shine. “I can’t believe I fell asleep.”

Sora shrugged, shoulder bumping against Riku, and pulled his knees to his chest. “Adrenaline wore off, I guess.”

Riku nodded in agreement. “Where are we?”

The brunet shrugged again. “Somewhere in Illinois, still. Traffic’s been hell… I’m guessing a wreck.” He sighed, his already fragile smile fading. Silence filled the camper, heavy and sour. “I’m sorry, Riku,” Sora finally said softly.

“Did you shove me in a camper and try to kill me on multiple occasions?” Riku attempted to head this whole conversation off.

“No, but –“

“Then don’t apologize.”

Sora looked at him, chin on his knees. “I didn’t want to get you mixed up in this.”

“Sora,” Riku stopped him with one hand on the top of Sora’s head, fingers tangling in the surprisingly soft spikes. That lump was forming in his throat again, making words hard to force out. The brunet paused in his most-likely practiced, guilt-laden monologue as Riku gently pulled Sora’s head to his shoulder, wrapping his other arm around the brunet’s torso. Sora’s heavy weight on his chest and in his arms would be enough to ground him, he thought, enough to keep him from dwelling on everything they had done wrong to get them here. “I can’t –“ He tried to swallow the lump again.

Sora’s hand curled in his shirt, over one of the bloodstains (probably Larxene’s, he thought, but wasn’t sure) as Riku attempted to shove the lump down just a little bit farther so that he could fucking _breathe_ , and God knew that his breaths were numbered now. The brunet’s other hand slipped around Riku, and the position was awkward, uncomfortable, and only a taste of what Riku needed right then and wasn’t going to get.

“It’s okay,” Sora said softly, voice just barely heard through the fabric of Riku’s shirt, breath hot on Riku’s neck. “We’re gonna figure this out.”

He’d been right earlier, he thought, about empty, hollow words. Nothing about this was okay, and Riku was staring down at the end of the line coming up too fast. Okay meant safety, okay meant his friends alive and well, okay was being able to go home to his crappy apartment and fat cat and waking up the next day to do it all over again. Okay was not taking what comfort he could from someone he wasn’t sure he knew but was pretty sure he loved on the way to his death.

Riku buried his face in Sora’s hair and breathed in deep.

 

It was lucky that they’d gone to school together. If they hadn’t, Riku would be three or four states away, Axel would probably be on his couch, and Kairi would have been _alone_ on that stupid campus in that stupid city. They’d only been there a week, how could something like this happen? At least, he conceded, they were lucky they were close enough that the hospital could call them, so she wouldn’t wake up alone.

Or, well, they called Axel, at least. Everyone seemed to call Axel, simply because he was the bigger, louder one of the pair and the first one they thought of. Axel, in turn, called Riku, and Riku had to remember that he couldn’t take the corded thing with him while he was trying to get out the door.

She was asleep when he finally got there, pale and in hospital blue. She looked… alright, he supposed, a little bruised and scraped, with one arm in a cast. Axel was already situated in the oh-I-wish-I-were-comfortable chairs beside the bed, tapping his fingers on the bed in a staccato that clearly meant he was itching for a cigarette, but unwilling to leave her alone.

“Meds,” he said, waving a hand at her. “They shot her up when I got here – she wouldn’t take ‘em until we did. They’re just keepin’ her overnight.”

“What happened?” Riku asked, taking a seat on the edge of the bed and settling in for the long haul. Axel had bribed the nurses to think that Axel was her brother and Riku was her fiancé so that they wouldn’t have to leave.

Axel shrugged, and Riku could see the tightness in his muscles – he was angry as _hell_. “They mugged her. She was headed home from work and… she only had five bucks on her, man.” He looked at Riku, and Riku realized he’d been wrong – Axel was _furious_. “They beat the shit out of her for five bucks.”

He stood, fingers fumbling a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and stalked out. Riku let him go, settling in for his turn at the vigil. Somewhere between Axel’s third consecutive smoke and him falling asleep at the foot of the bed, he thought long and hard about what he wanted to do with his life.

 

“I really did want to be a history teacher,” Sora said, pulling Riku from his thoughts. He blinked, coming back to reality, and looked down at the brunet in his arms, back to Riku’s chest, head resting on Riku’s shoulder. “I started out going to school for it, even. But then Cloud and Leon got involved and asked us to do one little favor…” Sora shifted, just barely, and was silent for a moment. “Shit happened. And once you get involved like we did, you don’t get out again, not really. You get retirement, when you’re done, but you also get to be watched for the rest of your life, just in case you let something slip or if they need you for that _one_ last time or something. Or you take a cushy job, like we did.” He looked up at Riku. “You were our retirement, Riku,” he said, grinning for just a moment. He dropped his head back to Riku’s shoulder. “But, you know, at the time, it was exciting. We were eighteen. I’m twenty-four, Riku. It stopped being exciting a while ago.”

“I thought you were twenty-two,” Riku replied, furrowing his brow.

Sora shrugged. “That was the birthdate on the license I gave the cop for the yacht. It… stuck.” He was silent again, for a long moment. The sounds of honking horns had ceased, Riku realized, and he looked out the window to find the interstate long gone, replaced by a gentle country road instead. Miles and miles of land where no one would find them. “I don’t think I regret it, though,” the brunet went one, even more quietly. “I wanted to be a history teacher, but I wanted to change the world more.” He shifted again, turning his face to Riku’s, cheek to cheek with the detective. “Do you?”

The million dollar question, Riku thought. He considered everything he had lost and given up. He thought about the people in his life, about Larxene and Luxord and bank robberies, about Kairi left behind in what was left of Demyx’s van. He thought about Axel and Kairi bitching at each other in the way that only best friends could, about Kairi smiling into his cell phone, Axel kicking in the door in his underwear. He thought about Axel smiling at Roxas, completely unguarded, whether Roxas was looking or not. He thought about Strawberry Shortcake Band-Aids and cherry-red Firebirds.

Sora, worried and frantic over Riku on the concrete. Smiling at him, carefree in the sunlight. Purple Sharpie on the back of his hand. Sora, the folder on his desk and Sora, the wannabe history teacher on a motorcycle, one and the same and _right here_ , warm against Riku like the sun on his skin. Sora pressed to him, between Riku and a motel door.

God, yes. He regretted it. He wished he could go back and change his mind and become an architect, and Kairi would be safe and sound and teaching kindergarten somewhere, and Axel would be crashed out on his couch or working in a tattoo parlor. Kairi would never get that faraway, lost smile on her face. Axel wouldn’t have diamonds on his cheeks. They would never have learned how to fire a gun, never have known the feeling of killing someone so that they wouldn’t kill you, never have had to watch someone die and know that, somehow, it was your fault. They would be _alive_. Riku would never have seen Sora smile, Kairi would never have heard Demyx sing, and Axel would never worm his way into Roxas’ heart.

“It doesn’t matter,” Riku finally said, and it was true. “Regretting it won’t change a thing.” He was pretty sure that this was just a continuation of their conversation in the motel room. Who was he reassuring this time? “We can’t go back, so we have to go forward.” Not that they had much forward left to go.

Sora was silent and still against Riku for a long enough time that Riku wondered if he’d put the brunet to sleep. When he did finally speak, his voice was quiet and mild, almost emotionless, and broke what was left of Riku’s heart in two.

“I’m not ready to die yet, Riku.”

Riku’s arms tightened around Sora. “Yeah.” His voice sounded foreign to his own ears, too rough to be his, as he choked the words out. “Me neither.”

 

“So I was thinking,” she said one day, sitting across from him at Axel’s kitchen table. Axel wasn’t even home – maybe they _were_ a little too comfortable with each other. She tapped her pencil on the table next to their array of newspapers, a few jobs circled, a couple highlighted. Her hair had been cut short and clipped to the sides with little barrettes, framing her face in bright red.

“That’s never good,” Riku replied with a grin. She threw her pencil at him.

“Shut up, I’m awesome. But anyway, I had this idea,” she went on. “DiZ doesn’t need us anymore and you’re done with the department, but you can still be a detective. Let’s open our own agency.”

Riku simply looked at her for a moment. “‘Let’s?’” he finally repeated.

She smiled wide. “I’ll be the greatest secretary you’ll ever-“

 

Riku was jerked roughly from his thoughts and sent suddenly sideways, Sora pulled from his arms by the motion. The world rolled and Riku collided with the side of the camper, his head knocking back against the hard surface and filling his vision with stars and bright bursts of color. There was, in the same instant, the terrifying sound of metal being crunched and wrenched, and a sound very much like glass breaking. Something warm and heavy landed on top of him, forcing his breath out in one long, unwilling sigh.

An eternity later, the pounding pain in Riku’s head subsided enough that he could open his eyes, and everything around him stopped rocking. He blinked, disoriented, and everything came into focus. He was now lying on the wall of the camper he’d been adjacent to before, Sora a dead weight on his chest. He shifted, and Sora moved with him. He was bruised, he concluded, with a possible concussion, and he was sure as hell gonna feel this in the morning, but he was alright.

“Sora,” he said, “you alright?”

There was no response. He moved again, looking down at the brunet and moving Sora’s head as gently as he could, meeting no resistance. Sora seemed to be out cold, but breathing, and when he drew his hand away from the spikes, there was blood on his fingertips. “Son of a bitch,” he swore softly.

The truck had wrecked, obviously. All was quiet now, silence after the storm, and Riku considered his options. The truck, if he remembered correctly, had been the last of the caravan, so there was a good chance that the other cars would be ahead and hopefully ignorant of the wreck. There was an equally good chance that the driver was unconscious or worse. And Riku sure as hell wasn’t sitting around here.

He shifted Sora off of him, gently, and maneuvered over to the door of the camper, which were now above him. They’d been locked from the outside, but Riku was a determined bastard, or so he’d been told. He shimmied up and braced himself, and with every ounce of power he possessed, he slammed his foot into the door. It took a couple of tries before he managed to get the damn thing open, and a while longer before he managed to get Sora stable enough across his shoulders that he could clamber out of the camper and onto the soft grass of the ditch they’d nosedived into.

Riku took a moment to breathe after that. He laid Sora out on the grass and looked around, up at the steep bank of the ditch, then down to the wreck. He ached, his shoulder throbbing and his arm sore – Sora wasn’t exactly light – but he carefully made his way down to look inside the cab of the pickup. The driver was slumped over the steering wheel. Riku didn’t think twice before wrenching the door open and pressing his fingers to the side of the man’s neck to check for a pulse – there, strong, so he was simply unconscious. Riku undid the seatbelt and carefully pulled the man out, laying him down on the grass as well. There was a handgun holstered at his side. Riku took the liberty of relieving him of it.

“Well, you’re just a regular good Samaritan, aren’t you?”

Riku turned at the unfamiliar voice, gun in hand. Halfway up the bank stood a girl he didn’t recognize, grinning widely and hands on her hips.

“Relax!” she said. “I’m on _your_ side, Riku!”

Oh God, she was _cheerful_. “Just for the record,” Riku replied, lowering the gun as Leon slid down the bank behind her, “it’s unnerving that all of you people know who I am.”

“We’re just that awesome!” she replied brightly, and knelt down next to Sora. “He’ll be fine,” she assessed.

“Glad to see you alive,” Riku told Leon. The brunet gave him a not-quite smile. “How’d you find us?”

“We had a little help,” he replied. “Heads up.”

Riku caught the car keys before they hit him in the head, and looked up the bank. His heart caught in his throat.

He was officially in a motherfucking soap opera.

“Let’s go kick some ass,” Kairi said.


	15. Fallen Angels

“I need to breathe,” Kairi reminded Riku after about five minutes of him holding her like she was the last hope of a doomed man, which was a uncannily accurate simile in this case. He reluctantly allowed her to untangle herself from his hold, and she didn’t stray far from his side, curling her hand in his. Of course, Kairi would understand that he’d need to keep her close, just for a little while, just until he didn’t see flames and panic every time he closed his eyes.

“I don’t understand,” he said. He’d seen that car go up in flames, _knew_ beyond a shadow of a doubt that everything was over, and that something he had worked so hard to protect had just gone up in smoke. He had been absolutely certain that all of their miracles and lucky shots had been used up. Still, it looked like they’d pulled yet another, from only God knew where, and he didn’t know exactly how to feel about that. Had he inadvertently traded one friend for another here?

Kairi nodded. “I know you don’t. And, frankly, there’s not a lot that I understand either. We need to go. There’ll be time to explain later.” She gave him a tired smile, tugged on the hand Riku still had a death grip on. “Riku, I’m not going anywhere.”

“You were dead,” Riku replied, not letting go. “You were dead and I watched you die, I’m gonna hold your damn hand for a little while. And I want some kind of explanation. Give me the nutshell.”

“In a nutshell, I wasn’t in the car,” she said, shrugging. “What, you really think I was just gonna wait in the car while the boys had all the fun? I’d turned around to help, and… next thing I know, the thing’s a burning fireball in the parking lot. After they took you guys, I called in a couple of favors.” She motioned toward Leon, leaning against the wrecked pickup, and Yuffie, who was honest-to-God bouncing beside Sora. “DiZ sent me these guys as well as…” Kairi gestured up the embankment, taking a few steps toward the road. Riku followed, looking to where she was motioning.

“The Firebird?” Riku asked disbelievingly.

The car was still bright red, paint gleaming as it sat there on the side of the road. It looked rough, though, like it honestly belonged in a scrapyard, rusting away – and Axel would murder him for that though, had Axel actually been psychic and they did, in fact, manage to save his skinny ass. In addition to the scratched paint and the dent in the door, the back window looked to have a few more bullet holes to match its bumper, the glass a spiderweb of cracks. The windshield had a crack on the passenger’s side, and the front end looked as though Kairi had driven it into a brick wall.

Or perhaps a truck with a camper on the back.

“Yeah…” Kairi said with a sigh and a shake of her head. “Looks a little tragic, doesn’t she?”

Riku nodded. ‘A little’ was an understatement. Axel was probably going to cry.

“Hey, guys!” Yuffie called, waving at the pair of them. “Sora’s waking up!”

Riku, still refusing to release Kairi’s hand, dragged her with him over to Sora. They crouched down beside the brunet, who groaned and shielded his eyes from the sunlight before blinking at the sky.

“Hi there, sunshine,” Kairi said, smiling.

“How’re you doin’, kid?” Yuffie asked brightly.

“…I’m dead,” Sora replied, blinking at Kairi, confused. “…or Kairi’s a zombie.”

Kairi shook her head. “Nope, not a zombie, no double-tapping here. And you’re not dead.” She laughed a little. It was strained, but genuine, and Riku couldn’t help the little smile at the sound. “Just back from the dead, that’s all.”

“Oh, that’s alright, then.” Sora sat up slowly, wincing. “God,” he groaned. “What, like, hit me?”

“A Firebird.” Riku finally released Kairi’s hand in favor of holding it out to Sora, who took it and rose unsteadily to his feet.

After a moment of looking around, staring at the wreck and then at the Firebird, Sora shook his head and murmured something Riku couldn’t quite catch, but was pretty sure it would have made Kairi blush. “So what’s the plan?” Sora asked. “And why does Leon kind of look like he wants to murder someone?”

“He’s been in the truck with Yuffie for a couple of hours,” Kairi explained. “Your bike’s in the bed of the truck, by the way. Are you okay to drive it?”

Sora shrugged. “I once hijacked an entire royal caravan with a broken arm and the flu,” he replied. “This? This is _cake_ , dude.”

“…Impressive,” Kairi admitted. “We get to hear that story, right?”

Sora grinned, a little tight. “Sure. If you want to wind up in a secluded cabin in northern Canada for the rest of your lives.”

“Later.” Leon strode over to them, cell phone in hand. “The roadblocks didn’t work. They took an alternate route, apparently, they knew we were coming. We need to move now.”

“What?” Kairi snatched the phone out of his hand. “How did they know we were coming?”

Leon shrugged helplessly.

Sora sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Do we have a back up plan? Tell me we have a back up plan.”

“We have a back up plan,” Kairi said, thrusting the phone back at Leon. She turned, starting for the Firebird. “The back up plan is to think of the back up plan in the car. You’re driving, Riku.”

“You two go on ahead,” Yuffie said. “We have to unload Sora’s bike. It won’t take long, but time’s a-wastin’!”

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Riku asked Sora, keeping in step with him as they walked toward the cars.

“I’m fine, but…” Sora paused, looking at him. “…I feel like you’re about to do something stupid.”

“Actually, I was about to kiss you.” Riku managed a tiny little grin, then leaned in and pressed a quick, gentle kiss to Sora’s lips. “It’s gonna be alright,” he said, quietly, the confident words for his sake, just as much as they were for Sora’s.

Sora, however, didn’t look so reassured. “Riku, there’s something-“

“Riku!” Kairi yelled from the passenger’s side of the Firebird. “Let’s go!”

“Hold that thought,” Riku said, pressing another kiss before pulling away. “Tell me after. It’ll give me something to look forward to. You know, besides saving lives and bringing down Organization XIII.”

“This is…” Sora looked worried. “Riku, you have to know that-“

“ _Riku!_ ” Kairi shouted again, and yeah, Riku really needed to get going. Sora could confess his love Hollywood-style later, because Axel, Roxas, and Demyx needed them to be quick.

“Later!” he called, jogging away towards the Firebird. He opened the door – it gave a reluctant creak, and he winced – sliding inside. Kairi was already buckling up. “So. Are we doing something stupid?”

“Probably,” she said as he turned the engine over and pulled back onto the road. “I can’t imagine how else we’re gonna pull this off.” Kairi sighed, leaning her head back against the seat and closing her eyes. Riku mentally counted to ten, and Kairi opened her eyes again. “Floor it. The warehouses by the river, and I don’t think we have a lot of time.”

Riku shook his head, pressing the pedal to the floor. “Sentimental bastards.”

 

A line of warehouses stood down by the Mississippi River in St. Louis, a group of rather unimpressive buildings. Their windows were typically grimy and covered in nothing but dirt, and Riku knew from experience that the insides were crawling with pests, from cockroaches to mice to the occasional junkie hiding in the corner or behind a crate. Theyall belonged to the Organization, and it was no secret that some of the most heinous crimes happened in those very warehouses. Knowing what he knew now, Riku was even relatively sure that there were a few organs and other black market items stored away. And that thought was really fucking creepy.

There was nothing, really, to announce the presence of the gang, other than a few parked cars and one incredibly familiar van. Riku parked away from the windows, facing it, and wished, again, for a much more inconspicuous car. He eyed the building with a mix of trepidation and anticipation. He was ready to rush in, guns blazing, but that had more of a chance of ending in tragedy than sitting back and assessing the situation did. Granted, this whole mess had pretty good odds of ending in tragedy, but hey. Riku was an optimistic guy, sometimes.

“Call Leon,” Riku said to Kairi. The others seemed to have fallen behind somewhere along the way, and Riku was only a little worried. Of course, his foot had practically been pressed to the floor the entire drive, so there was a relatively good chance that he had simply driven a little too fast for them to keep up. “Put it on speaker.”

It only rang once before it was picked up, and Sora’s voice filtered through. “Riku?”

Riku blinked. “Sora? I thought you were on your bike.”

“I was, but Yuffie forgot to put gas in the damn thing.” Somewhere in the background, Riku heard Yuffie shout that she had already apologized, like, at _least_ twenty times, thank you very much. “That’s why we’re behind. I’m in the truck with them.”

“Well, we’re here,” Kairi said. “So. Anybody come up with a plan?”

“Kind of, we’re still working on it,” Sora replied. “So just sit tight and wait for-“ He was cut off by a sudden, quick beep. Kairi did a double take at the number.

“Hold on a minute, Sora,” she said, cutting him off. “…Apparently, Demyx is on the other line.”

“Wait, Kairi!” Sora said quickly. “They’re just teasing you, trying to-“

Kairi glanced at Riku and pressed the button to switch to the call waiting. Neither of them said a word as they heard a small shuffle, a quick rush of fabric, and then, a voice that chilled them both to the very core.

“I see you’ve finally decided to arrive.” Dark and easy, Xemnas’ voice seemed to fill the car and suck away the air – Riku could barely breathe, and Kairi clutched his arm in a mix of fury and fear. “We waited for you, Riku, you’re a little late to the party…”

Riku swallowed back the tight lump in his throat, the anxiety and anger threatening to rob him of what little air he managed to suck in. “That was nice of you.” He kept his voice light and easy, a laid back tone. By the way Xemnas chuckled, he knew it was false.

“Looks like you brought a guest, too.”

His eyes flashed over, meeting Kairi’s gaze.

“Back from the dead, Little Red?” Xemnas asked. There was a sudden bout of noise in the background before Xemnas barked, “ _Quiet!_ ”

“I’m kinda like a cockroach,” Kairi managed, eyes darting between Riku and the phone.

“Hard to kill? We’ll see about that,” Xemnas said. “Riku, I can see that you’re listening.”

Riku jerked his head up and he glanced around. He couldn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean that they weren’t somewhere in the shadows, watching and waiting, crosshairs trained with deadly precision. Damn Axel and his conspicuous car.

“I’m going to offer you a deal, Riku,” Xemnas said. “Your get out of jail free card. A way to save those most precious to you.” Riku waited, watching the phone. “You bring me Sora. I have Roxas and Demyx, all I want is Sora. You get Red, and your merry trio gets to walk away with all of its members safe and sound.”

“You’ll take the hit off Kairi?” Riku asked.

“ _Riku_ -“

He held up a hand to cut her off, wanting to hear the reply. Xemnas chuckled again, knowing he had Riku exactly where he wanted him. “I’ll take the hit off Kairi. You can go back to your apartment, your cat, your cases. All you have to do is give me Sora. Little Red doesn’t even have to come in, you only have to be in here for a few moments.”

Riku was silent for a long pause. “…You’ll see me in a few minutes.” He reached over and pressed the button again, ignoring Kairi’s stricken look. “Sora, you still there?”

“Yeah. We’re about five minutes away from the warehouse, so just sit tight.”

“Sora, you have to know something.” Riku took a deep breath. “I think I love you. I think I’m _in_ love with you. I think I want to wake up next to you every morning and fall asleep with you and hold your hand on the couch. I want you to see my shitty apartment and pet my cat and park your bike next to my car. You get it, Sora?”

There was a long pause from the other end of the line, then a quiet, “Yeah. I get it. I think I love you too.”

Riku swallowed and nodded, even though Sora couldn’t see him. “How far are you?”

“Five minutes, still. Traffic.” He heard Sora take a shaky breath. “Riku….”

“Don’t have a lot of time, Sora,” Riku said, sure that Sora was about to tell him not to do something stupid. “Am I on speaker?”

“No, I kinda figured this was a private conversation.” Sora sounded confused. “Why?”

“Ask Leon if the airbags have been deployed recently.”

“Why? Riku, what are you going to-“

“Please.” Riku sighed. “It’s important. Please just ask him.”

There was another pause, Sora’s hesitation, and then, finally, “He says that he bounced off a wall.”

“Explains why they didn’t go off when I hit the camper,” Kairi murmured.

“Riku, what are you going to do? Don’t-“

“Five minutes, Sora,” Riku said quietly. “I’m counting on that.” He reached over and ended the call, then looked at Kairi, taking in her suddenly determined, fierce expression. “Get out of the car.”

She shook her head, putting on her seatbelt.

“Kairi, get out of the car.” His hands were shaking on the wheel, and he gripped it tighter, until his knuckles were white. The fear in his system had ebbed into something more like desperation, anger morphing into determination. She didn’t move. “ _Goddamnit, Kairi, get out of the car!_ ”

“I saw you when you watched the car burn,” she said, and met his eyes. He knew that look well – if he wanted her out of that car, he was going to have to physically move her. “I watched all of you fall apart. Don’t put me through that, Riku. If one of goes, we _all_ go.”

And that was how it had always been, wasn’t it? Always each others’ shadows, a trinity, a force to be reckoned with. It seemed like all along, that had been their secret to success, from grade school to college to now, sitting in Axel’s broken and beaten Firebird with their lives on the line. Again.

Riku nodded once, and took a deep breath. “We have five minutes,” he said. “We only have to last five minutes.”

“They’re gonna start shooting the second we walk in.” Kairi leaned under the seat and pulled out her trusty Ladysmith. How she had managed to keep that same little handgun this whole time, Riku didn’t know, but he was thankful. “The impact is gonna stun us. Might even knock us out.”

“With any luck, they’ll kill us while we’re unconscious then,” Riku said. He still had the gun he’d gotten off the driver of the camper holstered at his side. He flexed his hands on the steering wheel. “Call Xemnas.”

Kairi pushed another couple of buttons, picking his number from the list of recent calls. He picked up after the first two rings.

“Have you made your decision, Riku?” he practically purred. “You know the gang… they’re getting antsy, and I’m not sure I can guarantee Axel’s safety much longer. I’ve been able to keep them entertained by reminiscing… did you know that Axel doesn’t remember a lot of his more infamous exploits? It’s been quite the learning experience for him.”

Riku gritted his teeth.”Yeah,” he bit out. “I’ve decided. I’m coming in.”

“I knew you’d see it our way… Marluxia always said that you were a quick study. Now, you just bring him right in the front door where we can see you.”

“Sure,” Riku said, then reached over and ended the call. Lucky for them, that was exactly the entrance he was pointed towards. After a quick glance at Kairi’s pale face, he took a deep breath, closed his eyes for a long moment, and floored it.

 

Riku had done a lot of stupid things in his life. In fact, at one point, the three of them had sat down with a piece of paper, and had actually written a list of stupid things Riku had done (they had aptly titled it “Stupid Things Riku Has Done”). Granted, that activity had involved copious amounts of alcohol, but the list had somehow managed to be at least semi-legible. The first and foremost thing on that list was “Dating Selphie,” and the reasons listed were… well, good reasons, if Riku said so himself. One, he was gay. Two, he was gay. And three, he was gay. Granted, it was at a stage in his life where he was trying very, _very_ hard not to _be_ gay, but, nonetheless, his gayness succeeded, and his friendship with Selphie was never quite the same.

Quite honestly, Riku had no idea why his month-long romance with Selphie was first and foremost in his mind when he really should have been focusing on the fact that he was driving Axel’s precious Firebird through the wall of a warehouse. There were quite a few thoughts, actually, an important one being “What the hell am I doing?” which was right up there with “Maybe I should have thought this through.” The loudest thought, though, occurred to him at about the same time the wall was falling down around him, the roof was being dented in, and the windshield was breaking.

“ _We’re gonna have to revise the list._ ”

 

The fact that both himself and Kairi emerged from the car in one piece, holding handguns each, to perfect silence, was more than Riku had hoped for. He noticed, mostly as an afterthought, that he’d managed to take out Xaldin with some of the debri – the man was still alive, just… not going to be able to help the Organization. Which was good. That was still, like, seven against the two of them, considering Axel, Roxas, and Demyx were out of commission, bound to a support beam. Perhaps driving directly through the warehouse hadn’t been such a good idea, considering they were now surrounded.

Riku wasn’t feeling particularly lucky, but he’d gotten this far. He leveled his gun, set his sights on Xemnas. “I’m gonna give you until the count of ten to let them go.” He glanced over at Kairi. Her face was still white, but she wore a wholly determined expression, the same that he had seen when they’d first decided to take this case, bounty on her head or not.

Xemnas chuckled. “Made your choice, indeed, then,” he said. The shock of their stupidity had worn off, apparently, as the click of weapons being cocked filled the air. “How noble, one final blaze of glory.”

“Ten,” Riku counted. Ten seconds to come up with a plan that wasn’t going to end up with them all dead.

There was a sudden flurry of motion beside him, and he glanced over just in time to see a punch aimed right toward him. It glanced off of his cheek, and he stumbled back, stunned momentarily, just long enough for the gun in his hand to be yanked away from him. He grappled blindly for it, but a swift blow to his stomach brought him to his knees easily, and when the black finally faded from his vision, he looked up and saw Kairi throwing his handgun away.

“I’m sorry,” she said, voice shaking and tears welling up in her eyes. “I’m so sorry, Riku, but I can’t watch him die.”

Riku stared at her, standing slowly, and she took a step back, not dropping his gaze. Rough hands grabbed him, hauled him away before he could even start to struggle. “Kairi…” he managed as they drug him away – she was just _standing_ there, watching him, a tear trickling down her cheek.

He woke up a little when his back hit the concrete floor and a boot on his neck kept him down, gasping for air. He looked up at Marluxia, who simply smiled down at him.

“Looks like someone else made your choice for you,” the man purred, and finally let up the pressure, allowing Riku to suck in a gasp of air. The detective scrambled back, hitting something soft, and glanced back to find Axel staring at him with wide eyes.

“I want to make a deal,” Kairi said. Riku watched her – he couldn’t even hate her, God help him. “Riku for Demyx.”

“True love wins again.” Xemnas smirked, waving a hand at Marluxia, who sliced the rope holding them all tied to the support beam. Roxas was the first to stand, slowly, and he drug Axel up with him. Riku stood next, but Marluxia had to haul Demyx up. Riku glanced over at Kairi and saw it, then, the puddle of liquid slowly trickling his way. Gas from the Firebird. He glanced up at Kairi, whose gaze flickered over to him, and he gave a barely perceptible nod. He understood.

“I see it,” Axel muttered under his breath.

It hadn’t reached them yet, but it was slowly coming their way. They needed to stall.

“Is this what I get?” Riku yelled, the volume sudden and sharp in the quiet. “After _everything_ I’ve done for you, _this_ is what I get?”

“R-Riku, I-“ Kairi managed.

“You choose him over me, ove r us. What the hell has he done for you, Kairi? We saved you more times than I can count, what has _he_ done for you?!” His voice cracked.

“…I love him, Riku.” She was full-out crying now, and he felt guilty for a moment, but he pressed on.

“And we loved you!” He took a step forward, and Axel reached out to grab him, held him.

“Let her go,” Axel said lowly, and the venom in his voice sent chills down his spine, made Kairi let out a broken sob, even as Demyx finally reached her, wrapped her hesitantly in his arms. “Hope you’re happy with your choice, _princess_.”

Kairi let out another sob, turning and burying her face into Demyx’s shoulder. The trickle of gasoline still hadn’t reached them, but it was only a few steps away. Riku wrenched from Axel’s grasp and took the few steps, but the redhead caught him again, yanking him back and pushing him behind him.

“Well, well, let’s get this show on the road. You have a minute and half to leave,” Xemnas said to Kairi and Demyx, “or you’re going to end up watching.”

“Any last requests?” Marluxia asked with a smirk.

Riku glanced from Axel to Zexion to Kairi and Demyx, watched them make their way away from the puddle of gasoline. Kairi glanced back at him before Demyx tugged her out of the building and away. In that split second, she gave him an almost terrified look, but he managed a bare, ghost of a smile, so quick that only she caught it, before his scowl slid back into place and she was gone.

Gone, safe, and out of the way.

“I got a couple,” Axel said. “First, this.” He turned and grabbed Roxas by the shoulders, pressing their lips together. Roxas let out a completely undignified sound before practically melting into Axel, like this was some kind of movie or something. He curled his hands in Axel’s rumbled, torn shirt, clinging to the redhead. When Axel finally pulled away, the blond was flushed and stunned-looking.

“…Well,” Xemnas said. “And the second?”

“I want a last smoke. I want the whole goddamn cigarette, got it?” Axel immediately pinned Zexion with his gaze. “I got my own lighter, just gimme a smoke.”

Zexion glanced at Xemnas before practically gliding over, holding out the cigarette between two delicate fingers. Axel took it with a nod. “Thanks,” he muttered, and lit up.

“Axel,” Roxas started. “I… you know I…” The blond stumbled over his words. Axel reached out a hand and dragged the blond in for a hug. Riku glanced away.

“Yeah, Rox, I know.”

“Is that it?” Xemnas asked. “Nothing else you’d like to add, boys?”

“There is one more thing,” Axel said, turning away from Roxas and taking another step forward. “We wanna give you a little present, Xemnas, one little reminder of the fact that we saved your sorry ass, which, by the way, was a colossal mistake on our part.”

“I repaid my debt.” Xemnas gave a little smirk.

“Well, we’re gonna repay ours,” Axel said, taking a drag of his cigarette before flicking it away – directly toward the gasoline.

The line of flames that shot up was just the distraction that they needed. The Organization members jumped back, Lexaeus being unfortunate enough to have his coat just a little too close to the fire. Immediately Riku and Axel took off into the maze of crates, their exit being blocked by the Organization itself. Axel yanked Roxas after him, the blond letting out a surprised shout of “Holy _shit_ , you _pyro_!”

Riku ducked behind one set of crates, sprinting and frantically hoping for a back door or something, at least. The fire was spreading quickly, if the sound of shouting and the smell of smoke was anything to go by. He stopped for a moment to breathe.

“What the hell was that?” Roxas hissed, eyes wide. “What the fuck is it with you people and burning shit?!”

“Quick and easy,” Axel replied. “There’s gotta be a back door, right?”

“Let’s fucking hope so, considering Riku smashed through the other one!”

Axel glanced at Riku. “That reminds me – _what the fuck did you do to my car?_ ”

“Really? Not the time, guys,” Riku said, “Come on.”

There was an ominous _click_ behind them. “Not so fast.” Riku swore and glanced backwards at Marluxia, who had his gun trained on them. “First to move dies. Second to move dies. Third to move dies. I suggest you all stay still.”

“Fuck off,” Roxas said. “And for the love of God, dye your hair a different color.”

“Leave my hair out of this!” Marluxia snapped. “You just volunteered to be the first – say goodbye, Red.”

There was the crack of gunshot, and Marluxia dropped, gun falling from his grasp. The trio looked back down the way that they had been running. “Come on,” Sora said, giving them an insistent wave.

 

Ten minutes later, Riku was standing in the sunlight. Kairi had a hold of his hand, crying into his shoulder – tears of joy intermingled with the sporadic, “I knew you’d get it, I’d never leave you like that!” – and Axel on his other side, pulling them both into a massive hug. Smoke billowed up into the sky, and guys in full-out body armor were dragging out the Organization, a few in cuffs, and a few in body bags.

“You fucking idiots!” Roxas was yelling, clinging to Axel. “You ridiculous, stupid _idiot,_ will you please realize that I fucking _love_ you and I want you to _quit doing stupid things!_ ”

“Why the hell are you yelling at me?” Axel paused and blinked. “Wait. _Wait_. You _love_ me?” He grinned wide. “You love me!”

“ _Yes_ , you _asshole_ , I _love_ you!” And with that, Roxas fisted his hands in Axel’s hair and dragged him down into a hard kiss, one that Riku really didn’t think he had any business watching. So he turned his gaze away just in time to see Demyx pulling Kairi away into a tight, life-affirming hug, which Riku really didn’t want to watch either.

Finally, his eyes landed on Sora, coming toward him. Riku met him halfway, fingers carding through soft brown hair. He kissed Sora softly, then with a little more enthusiasm, and smiled as he pulled away.

“You’re an idiot,” Sora said, and rested his head on Riku’s chest. “You’re an idiot and you saved my brother and I think I kind of love you.”

“I know I love you,” Riku said, and kissed him again.


	16. Epilogue: Paradise by the Dashboard Lights

If his life were the movies, the credits would have rolled while Riku stood there in the middle of the parking lot, kissing Sora like his life depended on it, with the sunset fading in the background. There would have been a slow zoom out, taking in the landscape around them and the various characters nearby – Kairi and Demyx, Axel and Roxas – and then, presumably, they would have all lived happily ever after. The lights would have come up and the ending theme would have played, and then teenagers with zits and butter on their uniforms would have come in to half-heartedly sweep the theater floor and pick up the candy boxes and popcorn containers shoved underneath chairs instead of the conveniently located trash receptacles. Riku was no actor, though, and his life was nothing like the movies. Instead of the credits rolling and the sunset and all that jazz, Riku really only got one good kiss in before he and Sora were swept away from each other and into a flurry of reports, questions, and paramedics.

When the commotion finally subsided, it was past midnight. Riku opened the door to his apartment, finally, and nearly stepped right back out, because this neat and tidy living room simply couldn’t be his. Nonetheless, that was his crappy green plaid couch and his multicolored carpet, his peeling wallpaper and his DVD collection. More importantly, perched on the arm of the couch was his cat, Chubchub, sleeping soundly. The cat looked up when Riku stepped in, gave a greeting by way of meow, and promptly rolled off the arm and onto the cushion to go back to sleep.

“Yeah, I missed you too.” Riku walked over and gave Chubchub a good scratching on the side of his neck, smiling a little at the way the cat pushed into his hand, purring. He had missed his cat and his little apartment.

From looking at the calendar on his wall, Riku found that it was Thursday, and this whole misadventure had begun only two weeks ago. It seemed like a lifetime, at least, like Riku had died somewhere along the way and been reborn as a completely different person. It felt a little like he was trying to step back into a pair of shoes that just didn’t fit anymore, no matter how hard he tried to squeeze into them. He glanced around the room, banishing the deep thoughts in favor of just being able to relax and not worry about gangs or hits or anything at all. His floors looked like they had been vacuumed, which Riku hadn’t done in a few months, maybe a year or so.

“I’ll admit, I liked the free petsitting and housekeeping service,” Riku said to the cat, who had decided he had missed Riku after all.

“Yeah, Aerith likes to clean.”

Riku turned. Chubchub protested his lack of petting by nipping at his hand, but Riku barely noticed and pulled his hand out of the cat’s reach absently. Sora was standing in the doorway, hands in his pockets and motorcycle helmet tucked under his arm. He looked nervous, like he wasn’t sure of his welcome, gazing around the apartment instead of at Riku.

“You’ll probably find food in the fridge too,” Sora said, shrugging and smiling awkwardly. “Just don’t drink anything she left. She’s freakin’ _amazing_ with food, but she likes to experiment with drinks…” He scrubbed the back of his neck. “Uh. We found _Naminé,” he said after a moment. “She, um. She wound up in, like, protective custody, and we never got the memo. She’s flying back in a couple of days.”_

“I thought you’d be gone by now.” Perhaps Riku should have started with something like ‘hello’ or ‘how are you?’ but those were the words that slipped out of his mouth. “I mean, not that I want you gone. I don’t want you gone, I just thought…”

“That I’d be off saving the world?” Soragrinned, more of his sunshine peeking through. “Even superheroes like yours truly get the night off every now and again.”

“Oh,” Riku said, and immediately tried to think of something more intelligent than that.

Sora beat him to it, though, glancing down the hall, then down at the floor, and finally back to Riku’s face. “Sometimes superheroes even get to retire,” he said, voice a little softer. “They get sworn to secrecy and go on with normal, civilian lives. Some could even become history teachers, you know? Like… Like me.” He scratched his neck again, looking down at the ugly carpet and back up at Riku. “And Roxas, too, I mean, but… Anyway, the point of this is, I was thinking about this whole thing. And maybe you don’t love me, ‘cause it could have been adrenaline or something, but… This is gonna sound creepy as hell.” He glanced up at Riku again before looking down the hall like he was contemplating running away. “I want… I know more about you than I know about me… I’ve spent a year watching you, and… Whether it’s actually love or not, I want to… Damn it, I’m babbling, why are you letting me babble?”

Riku was across the room in an instant. The door closed as Sora stepped forward, and his helmet hit the floor. The wood of the door was cold under Riku’s palms, and Sora clung to him like he never wanted to let go, and Riku returned the sentiment wholeheartedly. The first kiss was sweet and slow, relief and prayer all in one. The second wasn’t so gentle and sweet, and neither was the third, or the fourth, or the fifteenth. It was fire under Riku’s skin, like Sora’s light was trying to burn its way through him. He couldn’t get enough of it.

“I wanna do strange things to your ear,” Riku said, breathless, which was not what he’d meant to say _at all_. He was sure that it couldn’t be classified as sexy in the least, but Sora looked very much attracted to the idea, and so incredibly happy. “Love or not, creepy stalker thing aside.”

“Can we not do them against the door?” Sora asked, his smile tempting Riku to kiss him again. “Saving the world kind of leaves bruises.”

While Riku’s brain was trying to catch up to the moment, to the fact that Sora was right there, in his arms, safe and sound and smiling and _staying_ , Sora took him by the hand and led him down the hall.

 

Friday morning was both the same as and completely unlike any other morning in Riku’s life. He wandered into the kitchen sometime around nine, determined to find something edible or filled with caffeine. He’d lain for an hour just watching Sora sleep in Riku’s bed before finding a pair of boxers and going to wander the house. He set the coffee maker to start and stood for a moment, admiring his godawful seventies kitchen and smiling about it, before he inexplicably grabbed his phone to sit on the bathroom counter while he took a shower.

After a moment of staring at the phone in his hand, Riku realized that this whole time, _he’d_ been the one setting himself up to be called in the shower. After another moment, he finally noticed the blinking light that indicated he had a message. He vaguely remembered hearing the phone ring the night before, but he’d been much too wrapped up in Sora to even think about getting up to answer it. He held the phone to his ear, entered the passcode, and waited.

“ _Riku?!_ ” Axel’s voice was loud and ecstatic. “ _I have to share this with you, dude. This is the start of a brand new era, Riku, this is, like, bigger than anything. As we speak, I am losing my virginity!_ ”

“ _Get off the fucking phone, Axel,_ ” Roxas’ voice cut in, and then there was nothing but silence and the automated voice asking if he wanted to save it, delete it, or replay it. Riku certainly didn’t want to replay it. Ever. He never wanted to hear that again. Hell, he wasn’t sure he could ever look either one of them in the eye again.

Nonetheless, he carried the phone into the bathroom with him, setting it on the counter. Riku’s towel rack had been taped back up on the wall and his curtain had been hung again. Aerith, if he remembered her name correctly, had taped up the hole with duct tape and drawn a smiley face on it in marker, and he stared at it in amusement before starting the shower.

It was only a minute or two before the bathroom door opened and closed. Sora’s head came around the curtain. “Morning,” he said, and stepped in to join Riku, wrapping his arms around Riku’s waist.

“Morning,” Riku replied, smiling and leaning into the embrace.

“So,” Sora said after a moment. “What’s first on the to-do list for a busy private investigator like yourself?”

Riku turned, pressing himself against Sora with a grin. “I’ll give you a hint,” he replied, and leaned in to give Sora a proper good morning kiss.

As it turned out, despite all of the shitty stuff he’d already been through, Riku wasn’t done repaying his karmic debt. It was at that moment that the phone on his counter rang. Riku and Sora both jumped, but it was Sora who went sideways, slipping on the bathtub floor, grabbing at Riku. Riku grabbed, instinctively, at the towel rack, and in a spectacular crash, they both wound up tangled in the curtain with the curtain rod lying across their backs and the towel rack in Riku’s hand. The phone was still ringing, so with a sigh, Riku reached up and picked it up.

“Kairi,” Riku said before she could say anything. “I’m declaring today a holiday. It’s officially Go Get Laid Day. Axel’s already celebrating, I was getting ready to celebrate, you _need_ to celebrate. No, it’s not a real holiday, I made it up, but I’m _not_ going into the office today. It’s a _day off_.”

There was silence for another moment before Kairi laughed, music to Riku’s ears. “Alright,” she said. “You’re the boss, after all. It’s your name on the door. I’ll let you get back to celebrating, then.” There was a click as she hung up, the ghost of her laughter still ringing in his ears.

“Fuck yes, I’m the boss!” Riku exclaimed, practically throwing the phone. Sora stared at him, bewildered amusement on his face before the towel rack went the way of the phone and Riku took advantage of the fact that they were on a horizontal surface and they were naked.

 

When Riku walked into his office two months later, it was as though nothing and everything had changed. Kairi sat at her desk, French tips on her nails and her hair curled. She smiled when he strode in, and the music that filtered through the speaker system was one of the local stations. Kairi was dating the DJ, after all, they had to be supportive and all that. Demyx’s voice came on as the song faded away, and Riku tuned it out. He turned to wave goodbye at Sora, parked on the street on his motorcycle with his backpack over one shoulder. Sora gave a wave back before heading off to class.

“I recommend knocking before going in,” Kairi said with a nod to Riku’s office door.

Riku sighed and rolled his eyes, hoping Axel and Roxas had at least stayed off of his desk this time. He gave his own door a good hard knock, and listened to the sounds of scrambling and hasty dressing before carefully opening the door. Luckily, no one was naked, though they were a bit disheveled and flushed.

“Seriously,” Riku said, “you can come in later. I don’t need this in my life.”

Roxas blushed even darker while Axel grinned. “We stayed off your desk…” Roxas muttered, glaring at the wall.

“I appreciate that,” Riku said. “But you have an apartment _and_ a car. Office sex can’t be that great.”

“Dude, have you ever tried contorting into the backseat of a Firebird?” Axel asked. “Because the newer models are even smaller, I swear. My other one was bigger.”

Riku covered his eyes. “I really did not need that mental image, please stop talking.”

There was a gentle knock. Riku turned to find Kairi standing the doorway, and just past her, a pair of blonds that Riku recognized, just barely. One was giving Roxas a little wave, a forced smile on his face, while the other looked like he’d have rather eaten his socks before sitting in the chairs in the lobby.

“Seifer Almasy and Hayner Elliott are here to see you,” she said, a little glint in her eye. “They’ve got a case for you.”

“Wonderful,” Riku said, pasting on a little smile.

“Send ‘em in,” Axel said, adjusting his tie. “Let’s get this show on the road.”


End file.
